A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes
by MercedesRayne
Summary: Months after her high school graduation, Anastasia Walker begins to have dreams and nightmares about two brothers saving the world from the things that go bump in the night. For the first few months of dealing with the hectic dreams she's able to cope as best she can, but when she begins to see these things while she's awake she can no longer ignore them.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Hello there! Thank you for reading! I'm going to start this off with a quick warning, I haven't written to this extent for public eye in a very long time so I apologize if I missed anything while re-reading and double checking before I posted this! I would love reviews, let me know what you think!

I'm hoping for this to be the first chapter of many for this story! This plot has really inspired me! I obviously do not own Supernatural or any of its character, just my main OC and the other few that will pop up here and there.

Enough chit chat, I hope you enjoy my story!

"John!" Ana screamed in her sleep moments before shooting straight up in her bed. She took a couple of deep breaths as she looked around her room. _It was just a dream. Just a dream. You're home. You're safe._ She repeated the mantra in her head, almost calmed down when her aunt opened the door slowly.

"How bad?" She asked, walking toward Ana's bed, flicking on the lamp on her desk along the way.

Brushing a hand through her wild red hair, Ana realized how much she had been sweating, "Not one of the worst, but they're all pretty bad." She answered looking over at her alarm clock, it was just after two in the morning, "God, aunt Heather, go back to bed. I'm sorry I woke you."

Heather rubbed her eyes, "It's okay, honey. Honestly, I'm getting used to you waking up screaming, doesn't mean I'm not going to come check on you though." She told her with a smile.

Ana nodded, returning the smile, "I know, but I'm okay. It was a three on the scale of how terrible my dreams have been lately." She yawned, "Go to bed, I'm probably going to crash again shortly." She lied easily.

Giving her a look, Heather nodded, leaning over to give her a kiss on the head before moving to turn off the lamp and go back to her own room.

It had been a few months now that Anastasia had been having the dreams or nightmares, depending on the night her description of them differed, but they were always about the same people. After the first couple of weeks she had realized that they had revolved around two men, brothers, their friends and family, and the mostly horrible things that happened to them.

Sighing, she laid back in her bed, staring up at the ceiling of her bedroom which was covered in those glow-in-the-dark star stickers. She knew that she wouldn't be getting much more sleep the rest of the night, any time she closed her eyes she saw the lifeless body of John, the brothers' dad, laying on a hospital room floor. Considering some of the things she dreamt about, that wasn't too bad, but it still made her uncomfortable and incredibly sad.

Sitting up, she told herself that there was no reason to be sad, that the things in her dreams weren't real, but that didn't stop the sadness or the growing void of emptiness in her chest. Looking around her room, she stood up and walked over to her desk, turning the lamp back on and moving to her closet. She tossed a pair of dark jeans, a black long sleeved thermal shirt, and her black boots on her bed.

She dressed quickly and pulled her long red hair into a ponytail, before grabbing her car keys and walking out of her bedroom. Being as quiet as she could, she opened the front door and moved outside into the cool autumn Montana night. Taking in a deep breath, she instantly felt a little better, something about the cold air in her lungs bringing her out of the chaos of her subconscious.

Once in her car, she started it up and pulled away from her house and set out for the north side of the city. The large cliffs that surrounded the city she grew up in had become her refuge over the years, whenever there was too much on her mind or she just needed to get away from everyone else she headed there. In the dead of night there was almost no one on the roads so it took her all of ten minutes to find the place she normally parked at.

She rolled down all four windows in her car and turned up the stereo so she could hear it while she sat on the hood, she was far enough away from where anyone lived that she didn't care about the amount of sound she was making. Turning off the engine but leaving the battery on, she got out of the car and made her way around the front.

When she was comfortable on the hood, she laid back against the windshield and looked up at the sky, the stars brighter out here than they were down in the valley that most of the city was located in. The emptiness that had filled her chest after her last dream was still there, but as she laid there it morphed from an ache to something more like a tingle, a feeling that Ana had never experienced and it frightened her slightly. While the world around her seemed to be the same, everything that was happening within her seemed to be in constant motion, changing daily since the dreams started.

She tried to ignore the buzzing that began to rattle her head, but it was hard to ignore something that felt like an entire hive of bees was trying to escape from the inside of your skull. As the buzzing slowly grew worse, Ana sat up, her hands moving to her temples at the same time her eyes closed tightly. Then the visions hit like a lightning bolt in front of her eyes, flashes disappearing as quickly as they came and she couldn't make any sense of it, all she recognized were glimpses of the faces from her dream. John, Sam, Dean, Bobby, a woman she couldn't put a name to, and a few others she couldn't remember the names of.

The episode seemed to last forever, but in reality it could have only been a few minutes. When it was over Ana didn't move, she waited until the buzzing slowly faded away and the tingles that covered her body condensed back into the emptiness in her chest before she moved. Slowly she pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed a number from memory, when it stopped ringing, there was silence on the other line, "Look, I know it's the middle of the night, but please tell me you're in the city and I can come see you."

She heard a soft sigh, "I am. You know where to find me." The familiar voice answered, sounding deeper than normal from being pulled out of a deep sleep.

"Thanks, Luke, I'll be there in five." She hung up and climbed back in her car, quickly pulling away from her parking spot and back on to the road.

When the nightmares first began Luke was the first person she turned to, her aunt knew because it was hard to cover the pure fear in her voice as she cried out in her sleep, but Luke was the only one she willingly turned to. She wasn't sure why, to this day she still didn't understand why she didn't turn to one of her friends rather than her ex boyfriend, whom she hadn't had much contact with since their relationship ended.

She killed the headlights as she pulled into his grandparent's driveway. Turning off the car, she hurried out and opened the back gate that led into the yard which held a separate building from the main house that was home to his grandmother's art studio on the top floor and his grandfather's garage below. As she shut the gate she was met by a chocolate lab who was excitedly wagging her tail, "Hi Molly." she smiled down at the dog and patted her head a few times before walking toward the studio, seeing that Luke already had some light on inside. Opening the bottom door, she let Molly go ahead of her on the stairs before shutting the door again and following her up.

Luke sat on the plush couch that looked out the large picture window onto the yard below, his ear length brown hair in a slight mess, as she moved to sit in one of the large push chairs on each end of the couch she noticed that he was in sweat pants and nothing else. As she walked past him, he offered her a cup of hot chocolate and moved his feet so she could get passed the coffee table.

As she sat down, he looked her over, "Hell, Ana, you look terrible." he commented, shaking his head, "Are they getting worse?"

"If you consider that I'm now seeing things while I'm wide awake, then yes, they're getting worse." she answered, blowing into her cup, watching the steam rise out of it.

He sat forward, his arms resting on his legs as he looked at her, "Are you sure? From the looks of it you haven't been getting much sleep, are you sure you're not just hallucinating?" he questioned.

Ana gave him a pointed look, "I'm not going crazy, Lucas." She all but snapped.

"Just checking, Anastasia." He retorted, before rubbing a hand over his face.

She shook her head and set down her cup, "I shouldn't have called, I'll just go." She told him, standing up and walking away from the sitting area.

"If you shouldn't have called, then why did you Ana?"

She stopped, "Because I don't know who else to turn to about this crap, Luke. This isn't a plan to try and weasel my way back into your life, alright? This scares me, more than anything has before and after all that we went through I thought that you would be the one person who wouldn't pull the crazy card on me." She answered, anxiety filling every word, "I just wanted one person I could talk to about this and get actual, quality feedback from. Even more so now that I'm apparently not just dreaming about whatever the hell this is that I'm actually having visions about it."

Luke stood up and walked over to her, "I get it Ana or at least part of it, but I just don't know what to tell you." He sighed, defeated, "Have you explained any of this to Heather?"

"No... she knows that they're still happening but I won't go into detail about any of this with her. She's worried enough."

He placed his hands on the sides of her arms, "You need to talk to her. Or try to find some other way to explain this all." He paused, "Last time we spoke you sounded almost convinced that somehow what you are seeing is real. Do you still think that?" He asked as he dropped his hands.

"I don't know." She shrugged, "I mean, the things I've seen they're completely crazy and can't be real, but it has never felt like just a dream."

"Maybe you should do some digging then. See if you can find anything that could prove if they're real or not."

Ana looked at him silently, she had thought about it before, but just figured her search would lead no where, maybe it was worth her peace of mind to waste some time looking in to what she had seen. "You know, this is why I call you, because even when you think I'm crazy you still give me helpful advice."

"I don't think you're crazy. I'm honestly worried about you, I haven't seen you this shook up about anything since our junior year." He commented, eyes staring into her's.

She instantly knew what he was talking about, the day they broke up after dating for two years. Looking down at the floor, she simply nodded, not wanting to dig into that certain memory right then, "Thanks for the advice, Luke." She told him, looking up at him one last time before turning to head for the stairs.

"Ana, wait..." he caught her wrist and turned her quickly into him, "Whatever you're going to do next, you can still call me if you need to." Before she could respond he kissed her quickly, lingering a moment before he stepped away from her.

When their lips separated, she breathed deeply, "Luke, I can't..."

"I know," he interrupted, "I just needed to do that one last time before you run off to Kansas. That's what you're going to do right? Go to where the time line of your dreams began?"

"It only makes sense to." She answered, "Which is why you thought of it before I did." She added, pulling away from him.

"Just... keep me updated okay? I don't want you driving all over the country trying to figure whatever this is and you getting hurt." He said, letting her go.

"I will. Thanks again." She told him softly, standing on her tip toes to kiss his cheek before leaving.

As the sun came up a few hours later Ana was in her room packing a bag, making sure she had enough clothes to get her by for a while, she had no idea how long she would be gone.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Her aunt asked as she walked into the kitchen, her bag slung over her shoulder.

She nodded, "If nothing else, I'll get that trip I had planned on making over the summer. Better late than never, I guess." She gave Heather a reassuring smile as she grabbed her laptop off of the kitchen table and packed it in its case. "I'll be fine. I just have to try to figure this out."

Heather nodded, "I know, honey. Call me when you get to your first stop, okay? And don't try to make the whole trip in one go, that's too much driving for one person."

Ana smiled, slinging her laptop bag over her opposite shoulder before moving to hug Heather, "I love you. I'll give you a call when I stop for the night."

"You know, I don't think I could have handled you moving away for college." She commented, tears in her eyes.

"Well good thing I took a year off, you still have all year to get used to me being gone." She teased, pulling away from her. "Plus, this way I get to catch up and actually start freshman year with people my age." She added with a wink.

Laughing, Heather nodded, "You never had any problems with the other kids in your grade being a year or two older than you, I don't know why it would bother you in college." She teased back.

Ana just nodded, knowing that they were both just prolonging their goodbye. "I've got to go. I'll call you when I get a hotel room. I love you." She spoke quickly, giving Heather a quick kiss on the cheek before turning toward the front door, making her way quickly out of the house.

With both of her bags loaded in the trunk, she quickly pulled out of the, hoping she could get far enough away before her urge to turn back got too strong. She had turned eighteen a couple of weeks after the dreams had started and in all eighteen years of her life she hadn't been separated from her aunt for longer than a couple of nights; they were both too scared to lose one another after what happened to Ana's mom, Heather's younger sister. Now she was going to be traveling states away, on her own, for God knew how long.

She had mentally planned out the majority of the trip as she drove home from Luke's earlier and then finalized it all on a sheet of paper while she waited for Heather to wake up. She had decided that it would be better to make her first stop in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, it was the closest of the places she had dreamt about and she figured if nothing there turned up it would be best to turn around there and head back home.

From what information she received from her dreams, Bobby Singer was the closest thing Sam and Dean had left of parent figures, that is until he died three years ago. That was the hardest part of all of the dreams, from what she could tell they came to her extremely out of order. Like the one she had last night where John died, had to have happened years ago chronologically, seeing as in the dreams that were in more recent years, he was already dead.

She was hoping that she would get to her destination, just outside of Sioux Falls and not find the old house within the salvage yard, abandoned and falling apart, but if she did she couldn't stop there. More questions would surface after that and she had a feeling that the only people that would be able to answer them would be harder to find than the old junk yard.

The drive took about ten hours and by the time she reached the city she could feel the lack of sleep taking hold of her. Quickly finding the first hotel she could, she got a cheap room and took both of her bags inside. Looking around the room, she shook her head, it reminded her of many of the hotel rooms Dean and Sam stayed in while they traveled across the country hunting things.

Moving into the bathroom she splashed some cold water on her face, hoping it would help her get through the next few hours. Ana looked her face over in the mirror above the sink, noticing that the bags underneath her blue eyes were visibly darker. Sighing, she went back into the main room and pulled her duffle bag on to the one king bed. With her make up bag in hand she walked back into the bathroom and placed some cover up underneath her eyes.

Shaking her head, she pulled her wavy hair out of the ponytail it was in, ran her fingers through it, and then grabbed her keys while heading out the door. She knew she would need to find out if the salvage yard existed or not before she would get any sleep that night.

Leaving the hotel parking lot, she made her way to a gas station she had passed on her way into town, hoping that someone working there could help her with directions if what she was looking for even existed. Once inside she got a cup of coffee and a bag of chips before heading to the counter, "Hey, I was wondering if you could give me directions. I'm looking for Singer Salvage Yard." She asked the guy working behind the counter, waiting for him to tell her he'd never heard of it.

He gave her a strange look as he finished ringing up her stuff, "What do you want with that old place? I don't think it's even in business any more."

It took her a moment to process what he said, it was real. Her heart started to race as she gave the man a fake smile, "My parents were friends with the Singer's and I wanted to stop by on my way through. I was so young the last time we came through that I don't remember where it's at." She lied easily.

The guy continued to give her a strange look before he gave her quick directions; she wasn't too far from it now. She nodded, paid for her things and said a quick thank you before walking back out to her car, thankfully making it there before her anxiety took over and she went into a full blown panic attack.

She hadn't been prepared for anything she dreamed of to be real, her whole hope of the trip was that she wouldn't find anything and would be able to go home, to just deal with her dreams like a normal person and forget about them after she woke up.

Ana took a deep breath, tossed the chips on the passenger seat, placed the cup of coffee in the cup holder and started her car. She couldn't just sit in a gas station parking lot and have a breakdown, she had to work through it, she needed to get to the salvage yard as quick as she could.

As she pulled onto the main road, she turned the music up on the radio, using the sound to drown out the crazy rhythm of her heart beat. Driving well over the speed limit it didn't take her long to make it outside of the town and to the entrance. She slowed the car as she pulled on to the dirt road that led through rows of broken down cars and she skidded to a halt just in front of the house.

Looking up at the house her anxiety spiked again, her body began to tremble by the force of it and she barely made it out of the car before she vomited. When what little was in her stomach had all come out she leaned back against her car, pushing her hair out of her face and forcing herself to take long, deep breaths.

Pushing herself away from her car, she turned to look at the house again, noticing that it looked a little worse than the last time she had seen it in a dream. It was clear that there was no one living there. She moved slowly around the nose of her car, opening the passenger side door she dug through the glove box until she found a flashlight. Turning it on, she was happy to see that it still worked before walking to the door.

Opening it slowly, she aimed the flashlight down the hall in front of her, "Hello?" She called, knowing that there was no one there or at least that there _should_ be no one there. When she was met with silence, she continued into the house, leaving the door open behind her in case she needed to make a quick escape, if this place was real there was no telling what else from her dreams was real and if by some weird occurrence that it was all real, there were dangerous creatures in the world.

Not wasting much time looking around, she walked through the kitchen and into the room that she had seen so many times in her dreams. Books were stacked on the desk as if still waiting for their owner to come search through them like he had so many times. Trailing her finger over the surface of the desk, she shook her head at the amount of dust that covered everything, "Three years of build up." She commented to herself before wiping her finger off on her jeans.

There was a small click from behind her as light flooded around her, "Who are you?" A female voice asked from behind her.

"I...uh.. My name is Ana." She answered, fear raking through her body as the woman moved around her until she was standing directly in front of her, a flashlight in one hand and a pistol in the other which was pointed at Ana's chest.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light being aimed in her direction and when they did she took in a surprised breath in, "Jody Mills." The name had escaped her lips before she had a chance to think about it.

"How do you know my name?" Jody questioned, her gun not moving an inch from its target even though she had been shocked that the strange girl in front of her knew her name.

Ana just stared at her for a moment, "I... I..." she couldn't think of how to respond, there was no logical way to explain how she knew so much about the woman standing in front of her.

"How do you know my name?" She repeated, giving the words more force as she looked the girl over, hoping that she wasn't facing some sort of monster that she wasn't prepared for.

Ana took in a deep breath, "I've dreamt about you." She answered softly, "Please, could you point that some where else? I don't have a weapon and I promise I'm human."

"You've dreamt about me? And I'm supposed to believe you're human? I don't think so." Jody shook her head, not lowering her firearm.

"Please, just hear me out, okay? If I were something bad, most of the things I could possibly be wouldn't have made it this far into Bobby's house." She paused, "I'll let you test me for whatever you want, just please, put that down." She pleaded, her voice trembling.

Jody looked at her closely, she had a point, Bobby had all kinds of set ups so that monsters wouldn't get this far into his house and the look in Ana's eyes was pure fear. "Let's say I believe you, am I just supposed to let the comment about you dreaming about me slide?"

Ana shook her head, "I don't know how to explain it, okay? A few months ago I started having dreams, nightmares about Sam and Dean Winchester and the things they do. Then sometime around three o'clock this morning it started happening while I was awake." A tear slid down her cheek as she spoke, all of her fears and anxiety about the situation coming out as she bared her soul to the stranger in front of her, "I was hoping that when I came here I wouldn't find anything, that this place wouldn't exist and I could go back home, but now... now I know it's real and I have to figure out why I'm seeing all of this." She shook her head, looking down at the floor. "I'm so sorry, Jody." She told her.

Jody lowered her gun, raising an eyebrow at Ana, "Sorry? Sorry for what?"

Ana looked back up at her slowly, "I... saw what happened to your family." She shook her head, "I felt your pain... I'm so sorry for your loss." She added.

Jody simply nodded, not knowing how to respond to that, "You said you've been dreaming about Sam and Dean, right?" Ana nodded, "I'm assuming at some point you're going to want to make contact with them." She stated, curious.

"I honestly don't know. I've seen so much of what's happened to them, of what they've done and what they've faced. I don't think they need to add this on to their workload." Ana answered honestly, now that she knew they were real she didn't know if she wanted to meet them.

Jody sighed, "Look, kid, I'm not an expert on any of this stuff, but I'm going to guess that this is something big. You wouldn't be seeing the Winchesters' lives if it wasn't for a reason."

Ana moved over to the couch and sat down, not even noticing the cloud of dust that escaped it, "I just... I don't know." Her brain had begun to shut down, between the shock of finding out her dreams were real and the fear of what she now knew of the world, it was just too much.

Jody watched the girl for a minute before setting her gun on Bobby's desk and pulling out her phone. She wasn't even sure if the number she had for Dean was still working, but she had to give it a try, whatever this poor girl was going through had to be something the boys could help with. She listened to it ring a few times before her call was answered, "Jody. Long time, no chat." Dean greeted.

"This isn't a social call. I have a situation here. Nothing life threatening, but I think it's something you and Sam need to know about." Jody explained.

Dean paused a moment, "Something weird going on up there?" He asked, sounding worried.

Jody sighed, "Nothing serious, no deaths or anything. I've got a girl here that I think needs your help. Are you in the middle of working something or can you make it up here?"

Ana sat silent on the couch, her eyes focused on the floor, she could hear Jody talking but she wasn't processing anything she was saying.

"Well head up there, it's not a problem. This girl have a name?" Dean asked.

"Ana." Jody walked over to her. "Ana." She repeated her name, waving a hand in front of her face.

Ana shook her head, looking at Jody, "I'm sorry, what?"

Jody gave her a soft smile, "Can I get your full name?"

"Anastasia Walker."

Jody backed off, moving back over to the desk, "Did you get that?" She asked Dean.

"Yeah I got it, we'll look in to her on our way there. Give us five hours." He told her.

"I'm going to take her back to my place, the poor girl is in some serious shock. See you in a few hours." Jody told him before hanging up. "Ana?" She questioned, kneeling down in front of her to get her attention, "Why don't we get out of here, huh? You can stay at my house tonight, I have a spare room and you're not in any shape to stay alone."

Ana barely understood what the woman in front of her was saying, so she slowly nodded in response.

Jody pulled her out of her head enough to get her up off of the old couch and out of the door. Once Ana was seated and buckled into the passenger seat of Jody's car, she lost track of what was happening. At some point she heard Jodi ask her if she had anything with her that she needed out of car, "No, I, uh… got a hotel room before I came out here. It's in the room there." she answered, voice flat.

Nodding, Jody started her car and pulled away from the house, heading back toward the city. "Which hotel?" she questioned.

"I didn't catch the name, its the first one I came across when I got into town. I came from this direction I think."

"I know which one, we'll stop real quick and I'll grab your things, cancel your room for the night and then we'll get you to my house." Jody explained to her slowly, not wanting anything she did to add on to the shock Ana was already in. Ana simply nodded in response.

Not sure of how much time passed between the last time they spoke, Ana jumped with Jody placed a hand on her shoulder, squealing slightly. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. We're here, let's get you inside and to bed, you could probably use some rest."

Ana nodded, opening the door and getting out of the car. She noticed Jody open the trunk and pull her duffle bag out, "Here, I can carry my stuff." she said, grabbing her laptop bag and taking the duffle from Jody.

When they were inside Jody's house, she lead Ana to the guest room just down the hall from the front door, "Make yourself at home, there's a bathroom right across the hall. You should probably try to get some sleep, but if you want to shower or anything beforehand go right ahead. I'll be in the living room if you need anything."

"Thank you." Ana told her with a slight smile. Jody returned it before leaving her alone.

Sighing, Ana sat down on the bed to take off her boots. She wasn't sure if she would be able to sleep at all, her nerves were raw and her anxiety was still crazy high. Not even bothering to change her clothes, she laid back on the bed and despite everything she had gone through that night, her lack of sleep won and she was out shortly after her head hit the pillow.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Hi again! Thank you so much to those who have followed and favorite-ed my story! I'm really excited to be posting the second chapter and am looking forward to writing further chapters! Please feel free to review :) Thanks for reading._

Ana had been asleep for most of the night before the dreams slowly turned to nightmares. When she had first fallen asleep, the dreams she had were of a hunt Sam and Dean had been on about a year or so after John's death. A simple hunt that they had caught wind of while visiting an old fling of Dean's, Lisa. It was cut and dry; research, hunt, kill the monster, end of story. The longer she slept the worse they got until she was getting images of Sam in hell, which was when she began to toss and turn. It was like she could feel the fire of the pit against her own skin.

Tossing and turning quickly made the transition to thrashing as she began to mutter, "No… no! Sammy!" She cried out as she threw herself off of the bed, landing on the floor with a loud thud. Looking around, she backed herself up against the bed, trying to remember where she was at.

"Ana?" Jody's voice pulled Ana's attention to the door where she stood, watching her carefully. Standing behind her were the two men she had seen so many times in her sleep, their expressions clearly confused as they watched her stand up. "Are you alright?" Jody asked, walking over to her slowly.

"I… I'm sorry." She apologized, rubbing her hands over her eyes quickly before brushing them through her hair, "I could have warned you about the screaming." she explained sheepishly.

Jody shook her head, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, "It's okay, the boys just got here so you didn't wake anyone up." she assured Ana.

"What'd you see?" The question came from the direction of the door, pulling Ana's attention back to Sam and Dean. As she looked at them both she realized that they were a little older than any of her dreams had shown, which shocked her, she had just assumed that she had at least seen something relatively recent in her dreams.

"Ana?" Sam asked, taking a step in to the room. She noticed that his hair was longer than she recalled and his eyes seemed a little dimmer. "What did you see?" he asked again.

"I…" Ana took in a deep breath, "The last one, it was you in the cage." she answered, crossing her arms across her chest and rubbing her hands over them, she swore she could still feel whispers of the heat from Hell.

Sam froze, his gaze focused on her, but he didn't say a word. Dean cleared his throat, as he leaned against the door frame, "Look, kid, have you been reading any books lately?" he questioned, his first thought when Jody had explained everything to them was that the girl had gotten a little too caught up in the damn Supernatural books that were based on their lives.

Ana raised an eyebrow at him, "The ones that Chuck wrote? No, wait, Carver Edlund, that was his pen name right?" she shook her head, "Honestly, I didn't know they existed until I started having these dreams, when I saw you guys meet him."

"Uh huh, sure kid, whatever you have to tell yourself. Look, I get it, you're a huge fan and you wanted to find out if they were real or not, that doesn't make you a psychic." Dean told her harshly.

Sam looked at his brother, "Dean, cut her some slack, I mean maybe…"

"No, no maybe's Sam. I'm going to chalk this up to good, ol' fashioned overactive imagination and send the kid back on her way home."

"The books stop right after Sam is left in the cage, right? The big blow out between Michael and Lucifer?" Ana questioned, glaring at Dean, "You know I'm sure the books would have sold so many copies if they had continued. I mean, with Sam escaping Hell and the whole drama with half of his soul being gone, then the Leviathans, that whole mess was crazy. Bobby's death… Kevin and eventually his death… the trials to close the gates o-"

"-Alright just stop." Dean said moving across the room, stopping when he stood in front of her, his form towering over her, "So what, you just wake up one morning and you're dreaming about us?" he asked, defensive.

Sam moved to his brother's side, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Stranger things have happened, Dean. She wouldn't be the first psychic we've come across either."

Ana looked at them, "Psychic? I'm given glimpses into your lives through dreams, I'm no where near reading people's minds like Missouri or the mojo that Pamela had."

"You know, when you came and got me from Stanford, I was just having dreams." Sam told Dean, giving Ana a weary glance before looking back to his brother.

"No! There is no way in Hell that this is some weird demon thing! Plus, you killed Azazel years ago, and unless there's another demon picking up the same lame tricks he was up to I highly doubt that this is anything like what happened to you, Sam." Ana almost yelled.

Dean thought a moment, watching Ana carefully, "How did your mother die?" he asked, having read in one of her files that her legal guardian was her aunt.

Ana's eyes went wide a moment before she gave him a sad smile, tears filling her eyes, "I killed her." she stated simply. "There were complications during my birth and she bled out before they could figure out what was wrong. It was nothing like what happened to your mother." she answered, her tone filled with pain.

Silence filled the room, Sam, Dean, and Jody just looked at her. "Look, I don't care if you believe me or not alright? Either way, I'm not your problem. So don't worry, Dean, you can continue to go on worrying about saving the world and keeping Sam alive. I'll handle whatever the hell this is." Ana snapped, moving around them as she spoke. Once she was out of the room, she made a beeline for the front door and walked outside, not even caring that she didn't have shoes on.

She stopped a few feet away from the house and looked up at the night sky, focusing on the moon. Any mention of her mother caused her pain, she had been blaming herself for her death for years. With a soft sigh, she wiped the tears from her eyes, not allowing herself to focus too long on the pain, she had other things to worry about.

She heard someone clear their throat behind her and she jumped as she spun around, seeing Sam standing in front of her, her jacket in his hand, "Sorry, just thought you'd get cold." He said, offering it to her.

"Thanks." Ana muttered, taking her jacket from him and pulling it on. It was pretty cold outside, even for that part of the country in September.

Sam nodded as he pushed both of his hands into the front pockets of his jeans, he sighed, "You know, I spent so much of my life blaming myself for what happened to my mom, thinking that it was some how under my control that Azazel picked me and killed her." he smiled sadly and looked down at the ground, kicking at the grass before looking up at her, "If I'm being honest, sometimes I still think it's my fault, but I know either way my mom wouldn't want me to be miserable and filled with guilt for the rest of my life."

Ana scoffed and shook her head, "I literally killed her, Sam. Eighteen years old and she lost her life to bring me in to this world." tears began to form in her eyes again, "I just can't imagine the strength it would take for a girl my age to find out she's pregnant, have no way to contact the father, and decide to keep it. To love and raise that baby. It would take an amazing person to make that decision and I took that person, that loving and caring eighteen year old girl out of this world."

"Ana…" Sam moved closer to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

She jerked away from him, "No, Sam, just… no. There's nothing you or anyone else can say to change how I fe-" she stopped talking as her hands quickly moved to her head, her eyes squeezing shut.

"Ana? You okay?" Sam asked, moving closer to her as he watched her carefully.

"I'm fine."

Sam raised an eyebrow at her, "I know that look, you're not fine. If you don't fight the vision it won't feel as bad." he advised.

Ana nodded simply, her body beginning to tremble as the images began to flash in front of her eyes, much like they had the day before, the only difference being that they seemed to come slower this time. The visions started with the same faces they always did, Sam and Dean's, then suddenly there was a face that she had only seen in pictures. It was her mother. Her legs gave out and she fell to her knees as the flashes slowed so what she was seeing were no longer flashes, but something like a movie only she could see.

Dean and Jody had been watching the two talk through a window when Dean saw the look on Ana's face, "Dammit." he swore under his breath before hurrying outside, Jody close on his heels. They reached her just as she fell to the ground, "She's not faking, is she?" he asked Sam as he knelt on the ground next to her, watching as she curled into herself.

Sam shook his head, "One minute we were talking about her mom and then it started." he explained, cringing slightly as he remembered his own experience with visions.

Ana could hear them talking around her, but her focus was on what the vision was showing her. She watched as her mother sat in an old recliner, her hands on her swollen belly as she spoke to her unborn child with a soft smile, "I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that you have the best life possible." She whispered as tears filled her eyes, "You have shown me the amazing things you will do when you're older, I'm just sad that I won't be there to help you through it all. Heather will be there for you though, she has always been the best big sister and I know she will take great care of you." A distant look swept over her eyes as she stopped talking, she seemed to be lost in her thoughts, but just as quickly as the look appeared, it was gone. "Anastasia, you have the most wonderful gift. Don't fight it, baby girl. Just remember that I will always love you and that I will always watch over you." The vision ended quickly and she began to cry as she sat back on the grass.

"What'd you see, kid?" Dean asked, still kneeling next to her, part of him waiting for her to fall unconscious.

Ana sniffled, wiping her hand under her eyes before raising them to look at Dean, "It was… it was my mom." she smiled sadly, "The first vision I have that's not about you two and it's about her." she commented, looking between the brothers in front of her.

"You've only ever had visions about us?" Sam asked, confused. She nodded. "What happened in this vision?" he asked, hoping that they could some how figure out where the visions were coming from by using what she saw.

"Uh… she was pregnant with me and she was just talking." She explained, thinking about to it, "She said that I was showing her things about when I was older, like I was having visions in the womb or something and she was seeing them as well. She called this a gift."

They watched her for a moment before Jody stepped over to her, "Why don't we get you back inside? This is all a lot for you to take in and you could probably use some rest. We all could." she offered, extending her hand to Ana.

Nodding, Ana accepted her hand and stood up, but she realized her mistake too late as everything seemed to shake around her. Thankfully Dean was close enough to place a hand under her elbow to steady her. She blinked a few times as she focused on the ground, waiting for the blood flow to even out in her body before looking over at him, "Thanks, I'm good now. Just stood up too fast." she told him with a small smile.

Jody and Dean let her go, but stayed close enough in case she started to go down again. Back inside the warm house, Ana took off her jacket and folded up in her arms, "That last vision took it out of me, I think I'm going to head back to bed."

"That's probably a good idea. We'll all get some rest and try to figure this all out in the morning." Jody agreed, "You boys can decide who gets the couch and who gets the recliner." she told them with a grin as she left for her bedroom.

Sam and Dean shared a look, both knowing that they wouldn't get much sleep either way, there was too much for them to discuss alone. Ana watched them a moment, before turning and walking toward the guest room, feeling more exhausted than she had during the past few months. It seemed that when the visions happened while she was awake that they took a lot more of her energy.

She didn't waste any time changing her clothes, she just set her jacket down on her bag and climbed into the bed. A few tears slid down her cheek before she closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.

Sam and Dean waited a few minutes before Sam went to pull his laptop out of its bag and Dean walked down the hall, peeking in the guest room to make sure she was asleep. Relieved when she was, he quickly walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch, looking to his left as Sam typed away on his computer.

"You know, I wasn't about to believe that what she was saying could be real. Anyone who read those damn books knows what happened to us, but the vision she had outside... I'd recognize that look anywhere, God knows I watched you make it enough." Dean grumbled, "What I don't get is why she's just seeing us. That's not normal, is it?"

Sam shrugged, "I honestly don't know, Dean. Back when I was having them, I was connected to the people they were about." He sighed and sat back in the chair, "Maybe she's connected to us some how?"

"Connected to us?" Dean raised an eyebrow at his brother, "How could she be connected to us, Sammy?" He questioned.

"I don't know, man." Sam shrugged, "I don't have any more answers than you do and I'm not getting anything from looking around the internet. I might be able to find something in the library back at the bunker, but that would take some time. Maybe we should call Cas." He offered.

Dean shook his head, "No, I want to try to figure whatever this is out on our own." he rubbed a hand over his face, feeling his exhaustion setting in, "So we don't know anything. There's an eighteen year old girl having visions about our past and we have no idea why…"

Listening to his brother think, Sam thought about what was happening and the one similar experience they had with this in the past, "The same thing was happening to Chuck. That's how he wrote the books right? He was seeing parts of our past, maybe… maybe she's a prophet." he offered, reaching out on a limb.

"A prophet? Why would she be a pro-" Dean began to ask but stopped at the sound of ruffling wings.

"The girl is not a prophet." Castiel spoke from behind the couch Dean sat on. "Her name is no where on the list of prophets. Though I can tell you that her visions are very real and that this is most likely just the beginning. It would be wise to say that if she learned to harness her ability that she would be able to see parts of your future." he explained.

"But isn't a lot of the future undecided? Nothing is set in stone right?" Sam asked.

"That is true, but parts of the future are bound to happen. When a psychic sees the future, what they're seeing is parts of possibilities, it's not one hundred percent accurate, but it can come in handy." Castiel answered, looking back and forth between the two brothers a moment before adding, "It could be extremely useful in your line of work."

Dean gave him a hard look as he stood up from the couch, "So what are you saying, Cas? Are we just supposed to keep her around in hopes that she can learn to figure out how to see our future?" he snapped, forcing himself to keep his voice down so he didn't wake up Ana or Jody.

"Dean, she needs your help." Castiel looked at him, confused, "Your goal is to still help people, isn't it?"

"This isn't the kind of work we do, Cas, and you know it. If she was being held captive by a monster or haunted by a spirit I wouldn't second guess helping her out, but visions? Being psychic? I don't even know that I could help."

Sam cleared his throat, "I could." he offered, watching his brother carefully, "What I went through is similar to what she's dealing with. It's been years, but I remember it clearly. We… we can't let her deal with this on her own. Now that she knows about what's real in the world, she's going to be scared and I still think that her visions revolve around us for a reason, I want to figure out what it is."

"And there is the possibility that she could be in danger." Castiel offered.

Dean shook his head, his expression showing clearly how crazy he thought they both were, "What danger?"

"If something had plans of hurting you and they catch wind of a psychic being alive that knows everything about the both of you, how long do you think it would take for them to hunt her down to torture information out of her." Castiel explained with a tone that implied it wasn't hard to figure out.

As the realization hit both brothers, their faces fell. Dean sat back down, his head hanging low as he took in a deep breath, calming himself down. "So what do we do? Take her back to the bunker? Let Sam try to help her understand what's going on with her visions, hope she starts to see the future with the possibility it could save our hides?" he asked, sounding more tired than he had moments ago.

"I believe your best course of action would be to try and figure out why her visions are focused on your lives. Sam was right when he assumed there needed to be some sort of connection between the two of you and Anastasia. For how strong and how incredibly detailed they are, it's more than just needing to pass along information as it is for most psychics with visions." Castiel offered the information with a grim face, "I will see if I can find any answers myself." he added before vanishing.

Dean swore and leaned back, closing his eyes as he tried to think of a way to keep Ana as far away from them and their lifestyle as possible. Not only did he not want another person to look after, he didn't want to drag anyone into the hunting life, especially an eighteen year old girl.

Sam watched his brother a moment, "We should take her to the bunker." He said simply, hoping it wouldn't turn into another argument.

"No. We are not dragging her into this life because of a _possibility_." He snarled the word as he looked at his brother. "We're going to stay here long enough to get a few hours of shut eye then we're back on the road looking for a real case. We'll send her on her way back to Montana and call it good."

Sam laughed, a disbelieving sound, "Good plan, Dean, and what about if something does go after her? Takes her God knows where and tortures her to death for information on us?"

Dean sighed heavily, he didn't think that anything evil would figure out that she had the ability she did, that is if the girl kept her mouth shut about the whole damn thing. "The way I see it, if it some how gets out that she's a walking Winchester encyclopedia, and that's a big if… but if trouble comes her way, she knows almost as much about this stuff as we do. She's seen it all, right? So if a demon or something else comes her way, she has enough basic knowledge to keep herself alive."

"So we're just supposed to leave her and hope she has it in her to protect herself if she gets attacked? I don't think that's a good idea."

"She's not coming with us, got it? She has a better shot at keeping her visions a secret if she's not constantly around the danger that we put people in." Dean looked at his brother, "I'm not going to change my mind on this. She's eighteen, Sam, she still has a whole lot of life to live and I'm not going to chance cutting her life on this planet shorter because of a possibility."

Sam's jaw locked in place, he knew there was no way to convince his brother to change his mind, but he had a feeling that Ana was going to be in danger either way. At least with them she would have a better chance of living.

Dean moved sideways on the couch to lay down and closed his eyes, "Get some sleep, I want to get back on the road early."

Ana woke up hours later to the sound of her phone ringing in the pocket of her jeans, she groaned as she rolled from her stomach to her back and fished it out. "Hello?" she answered, squeezing her eyes closed to avoid the harsh light of the sun coming through the window.

"You had me worried, you were supposed to call last night."

"Oh, aunt Heather! I'm so sorry. I.. uh.. got to the hotel late and passed out cold." she explained as she sat up, feeling terrible for forgetting to check in.

She heard Heather sigh in relief from the other end of the line, "It's okay, I'm just glad you got there safe. How was your drive?"

Ana stood up, brushing a hand through her hair as she forced herself to wake up further, "Long, but good, it was nice to get some time by myself on an open road. I'm going to do some looking around today, I'm not sure how long I'm going to stay here, but once I have a better idea of my plan I'll call you back."

"Alright, sweetie, just be careful out there on your own." the worry in Heather's voice was clear.

Ana smiled to herself, "I promise I'll be alright, I'll call you later. Love you." she spoke quickly and hung up. She rubbed a hand over her eyes and looked down at the time, it was just before eight in the morning. Yawning, she moved over to her bag and dug out some clean clothes.

Once dressed in a pair of washed out blue jeans and a long sleeved forest green button up, she put her boots on and headed to see if anyone else in the house was awake. Walking into the living room she didn't see anyone, but she could hear noises coming from the direction of the kitchen so she made her way there. As she entered the room, she noticed that things between the brothers and Jody seemed tense, but they were no longer speaking of whatever made it that way.

"Good morning." Ana greeted softly as she entered the room, looking at them all carefully before moving to take a seat at the table that Sam was sitting at.

Jody gave her a soft smile, "Good morning, Ana. Would you like some coffee?" she asked, from where she stood by the sink.

"I would love some." Ana responded, returning her smile.

"Get her some coffee, Dean." Jody told him with a pointed look. He was leaning against the counter closest to the coffee pot, which would have made Jody's request seem normal if it weren't for the tone under her words.

Dean glared at her a moment before turning around, grabbing the empty cup off of the counter and filling it up, "So, Ana…" he began as he walked the coffee to her, "Anymore crazy dreams last night?" he asked, sitting down in the chair between her and Sam.

Ana took the cup from him as she shook her head, "I don't remember dreaming at all for the rest of the night. I guess that last vision took it out of me." she answered, having thought about it when she woke up. Most of the time she was up way earlier because of a dream that had scared her.

"That's good. I'm sure you needed the rest." Sam commented with a soft smile. Ana nodded in response, taking a sip from her cup.

"Look, Ana, I think it's best if you go back home. Live like you have been, don't tell anyone else about your visions and just hope they go away." Dean spoke, knowing that neither Sam or Jody were going to help him tell her about his decision, it was what they had been fighting about before she got up.

Ana scoffed, "I doubt they will ever go away, but I'm not going to fight to stick around you guys. I know what life is like for you, I highly doubt I'd be anything but a nuisance for you." she spoke softly, she knew better than to expect Dean to help in a situation like this. She wasn't in immediate danger from anything supernatural, therefore this wasn't his gig. Part of her understood, but part of her was hurt, because she felt that these two were her only hope in understanding why she was having visions in the first place.

"Well that's settled then." Dean gave his brother a tense but smug smile as he stood up, "I'm going to go load up the car, be ready to head out in five."

Sam watched Dean leave and waited to hear the door close before he turned to Ana, "I don't agree with any of this. I don't think it's a good idea to send you back home in case something comes after you." he told her.

Ana nodded, "I could tell you had been arguing about something. I'll be okay, Sam. Other than the three of you, only one other person knows and I know well enough that he won't tell anyone about this because he knows no one would believe him." she gave him a soft smile, "You two continue doing what you do, don't worry about me."

He smiled weakly and slid a small piece of paper across the table to her, "These are our numbers. You can call me whenever, if you just need someone to talk to or if things change. If something goes wrong and you can't get a hold of me, then you can call Dean." he explained.

"Thanks, I appreciate it." She folded up the paper and slid it into her pocket.

"Alright, well I better get going. Thanks for letting us crash here, Jody." he said as he stood up, walking over to give her a quick hug. "Call us if you need anything." he reminded Ana before walking toward the front door.

Ana stood and followed Jody who followed Sam. They stopped just outside the front door and waved as the brothers drove away. When they were out of sight Jody turned to look at Ana, "So you're just going to go home now?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.

"No, I'm not." Ana told her honestly, "I can't just let this go and keep dreaming about the chaos those two are in."

"So what's your plan?" Jody asked, motioning for her to follow her back inside.

Ana followed Jody as they walked back through the house and to the kitchen, "You're not going to try and stop me?" she asked, weary of telling her the vague plan she had in case Jody decided to side with Dean.

The older woman shook her head, "No, I know better than to try and stick my nose where it doesn't belong."

"I'm going to Kansas." Ana spoke the words quickly, waiting for a bad reaction, but when all she received was a blank face she sighed, "Years ago, when Sam was still going to Stanford and Dean went to find him to go help look for their dad, the trail led them to a psychic in Lawrence. I'm hoping she can help me figure this all out. That is, if she's still there." she explained.

Jody nodded, "Well you're going to want to let those boys get a good head start on you in case they're headed the same direction and we'll need to go get your car from Bobby's." she smiled at the shocked look on Ana's face, "It's a good idea, Ana. You need to figure this out, Sam gets that, but Dean… he just doesn't want anyone getting hurt and he assumes that's what is going to happen."

"I don't blame him. I've seen him blame himself over and over for the deaths of those around him, he doesn't want to add another on the already heavy scale. I get it, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to figure this out. Someone gave me this power for a reason, whether it be God or some demon or whatever else, I can't just ignore it." Ana sat down with a huff, taking a sip of her coffee to collect her thoughts, "Not now that they're happening while I'm awake. I have a feeling that they're going to keep changing."

Watching her a moment, Jody smiled, the determination in Ana's voice reminding her a little of herself, "Alright then, why don't you grab your stuff and we'll go get your car. I think it's something like a five hour drive to Kansas, so if you get going soon and don't make a lot of stops you should make it there with plenty of time to find this psychic today."

It didn't take long for Ana to gather up her bags and meet Jody outside in her car. Now that she wasn't in shock, the drive to Bobby's seemed a bit longer than she had thought it was the night before. They passed the drive in comfortable silence, which has she was thankful for, she didn't want to try to hold a conversation while the only thing on her mind was finding Missouri.

With her bags transfered from the back seat of Jody's car to the trunk of her own, Ana closed it and turned to face Jody, "Thanks for the help with everything." Ana spoke with a soft smile.

"I don't know how much help all of that actually was, but you're welcome." Jody returned her smile before pulling a piece of paper out of her coat pocket, "Call me if you need anything and be careful, you know how dangerous the world is now." She paused a moment before looking at Bobby's house, "Hold on a minute." She spoke quickly before moving quickly into the house.

A few minutes later Jody came back outside with a beat up duffle bag, "Honestly I'm not sure what half of the stuff in here is for, but I'll feel better knowing that you'll have some form of protection while you're out there on your own." She said, setting the bag on the trunk by Ana.

Opening it up, Ana dug around, there was a container of salt, one of holy water, a couple of silver knives, a pistol which was loaded with God knows what, and a handful of old books. "Won't the boys be mad that I took some of Bobby's things?"

"Bobby would want you to have them I think, you've been pulled into this world and you need to be able to protect yourself." Jody pointed out, "You better get going if you want to make good time."

Ana nodded, grabbing the duffle and putting it in her back seat. "Thanks again, Jody." She said as she opened the door and slid into the seat. She gave Jody one last wave before turning her car around and heading back toward the main road. With Singer Salvage Yard in her rear view mirror, she turned the volume of her radio up and focused on the road ahead, hoping that she would find the answers she was looking for in Kansas.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Hello! Again, giant thank yous to those who have followed/favorite-d my story so far! I'm really excited to post this chapter and to continue on with the major plot of this story! Shout out to canadduh for the lovely review! Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural. Enjoy!_

Leaning against her car, Ana yawned, though she had gotten more sleep than she had in a while, she was still drained from the vision she had the night before. The familiar click of the nozzle connected to the gas pump told her the tank was finally full. She pulled her hair out of the ponytail she had it in, the normal bright red color was a little dingy from going two days without being washed, she would need to get a hotel room that night so she could shower. The thought passed through her mind as she made her way into the gas station to pay for her gas and glance through the phonebook; she smiled to herself when she found Missouri Moseley in the business section listed under psychic. At least one thing was seeming to go right for her on this trip.

It didn't take long for her to arrive at the address she had memorized from the phonebook, but as she parked her car outside of the house she realized how nervous she was. Her best bet at getting answers was just a short walk away, but part of her was scared that whatever answer she received would be worse than having no answer at all. She drew in a deep breath, using it to steel her nerves as she opened her door and got out of the car.

"You need answers. Living in the dark has never done anyone any good." Ana spoke to herself softly, using the words to try to calm her nerves.

"You're going to need more than answers if you keep talking to yourself like that." The voice made her jump, but the high tone with the southern accent attached was almost instantly recognizable. Ana lifted her gaze from the ground, which was were it had been since she got out of the car, hence the shock that Missouri was waiting for her in the doorway she was just feet from. "Well come on in, child, there's no need to be wasting any more time." she told Ana with a soft smile as she moved out of the doorway to let her in.

Ana walked into the house and followed Missouri through an old beaded curtain into a small sitting room, "So I guess it's safe to say you knew I was coming." she assumed, moving to sit down on the same couch that Sam and Dean had many years before.

"Oh, honey… I knew you were coming the instant you decided to, which was a wise decision." Missouri told her as she sat down in the car across from the couch, "Those Winchester boys, they mean well, but sometimes Dean is too bullheaded for his own good and in this case, your good as well."

"Why would Dean's decision have any affect on my well being?" Ana questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Missouri sat back, folding her hands in her lap as she studied the girl in front of her, taking a moment to choose her words wisely, "How you two get along in the future will determine many things for both of your well beings'. Sam's as well… but you didn't come here to talk about them. You came to talk about your gift."

Ana scoffed, "Gift. You're the second person I've heard refer to my visions as a gift."

"You don't see it as one?"

"Up until a day and a half ago, I just thought they were crazy dreams and the visions I've had while awake have been draining to say the least. So I'm honestly not sure what to make of all of it yet." Ana explained, feeling as if she could bare her soul to the woman in front of her and be met with understanding or comfort.

Missouri sighed, "I do understand, Anastasia. At the beginning it's all confusing and even a little scary, but it gets better. I can give you tips on how to strengthen it, how to let it be a part of you, that in itself makes everything a whole lot easier."

Ana considered it a moment. Did she really want to strengthen her power? To let it be something so comfortable that it came as second nature as it did for Missouri. She wasn't sure, but her gut was telling her that she needed to. "I would be more than thankful for your help, but…"

"You're not sure." Missouri spoke the words for her followed with a soft smile, "I can understand that you're hesitant about all of this, but trust me, Ana. You need this for reasons you won't understand until the time is right. The power you have, it can help many people, including yourself."

"So what?!" Ana stood up quickly, her emotions getting the best of her, "I'm just supposed to adapt myself to this lifestyle, teach myself about the evil of the universe so I don't die while I'm trying to help save other people?" she asked, beginning to wish that she hadn't set out on this journey in the first place.

"It's what your father would do." Missouri's words brought her out of her pity party.

Turning around quickly to face the woman, she raised an eyebrow, "What do you know about my father?" she questioned.

Missouri gave her a soft smile, apology written in it, "I know enough. You will find out, but only if you keep on the path that you are currently on. Turning away from your gift is turning away from finding him."

"Do I really want to find him?" Ana asked sadly, sitting back down. She had thought about the man for most of her life but had never once guessed that she would ever meet him.

"If you're asking if he is a man worth meeting, you won't be disappointed." Missouri assured her as she sat forward and reached out for one of Ana's hands. "It's not all bad. The good that comes with helping people the way we can, the good that can be in your life, out ways so much of the bad, honey."

Ana nodded, wiping a stray tear that fell from her eye with her free hand. "Okay. Please help me with my power." she told the woman softly, thinking about to what her mother had said in her vision. _You've shown me the amazing things you will do when you're older._ Maybe this was the beginning to the amazing things her mother had seen.

"You have to understand that this power you have is a part of you. Its not an internal intruder that you have to fight against. The first step in helping it grow is accepting it." Missouri explained to her. "Then it becomes so much easier. You're a bright girl, it won't take you long to understand how it works and how you can access it without it having to force it's way out. That is when you are strongest, that is when you are in control."

"That's it?" Ana looked at her, confused. She had thought it would be something like Harry Potter. Classes or lessons slowly teaching her to use her ability, not a couple of tips and just a plunge into the deep end.

Missouri laughed softly, "That's it. The power is yours, once you accept that and let it become a part of you, there's nothing stopping you."

 _Could it really be that simple?_ The thought circled around in her head, it did seem simple, but would she be able to accept it? The fact that her dreams weren't just that, but glimpses into the past and that if she let it she could get glimpses into the future. "I can help people." she spoke mostly to herself.

"You can save people." Missouri elaborated.

Ana sighed and closed her eyes, she forced herself to take a deep breath. If for nothing else, she would do this for her mother, whatever she saw while she was pregnant with Ana made her happy and Ana wanted to live up to that. As she thought about her mother and wanting to make her proud, it felt as if a wall broke down in her mind and the tingling sensation she felt with her first vision began to take over her entire body. She was prepared for the vision as it made it's way to her main focus.

The first thing she saw was a sleazy bar, something that would probably be on the wrong side of town wherever it was at, which was why she wasn't too surprised when the first person she recognized within it was Dean. He sat on an old stool, drink in hand as he flirted with a blonde who didn't look much older than Ana. The vision seemed to skip forward to Dean moving to leave the bar with the same girl when they were surrounded by the few patrons that had been in the bar, all eyes were black. Words were exchanged but she didn't hear any of them before the fight broke out. She had seen Dean pull his ass out of many bad situations, but he was severely outnumbered; seven to one. The last thing she saw before it was gone was Dean's dead body hitting the floor.

Once it was over, Ana jumped to her feet, "I have to go." she told Missouri.

"Now hold on a minute. Take a deep breath." Missouri told her, standing up, "Tell me what you saw."

"Dean is going to die! I need to go now!" She snapped, irritated.

Missouri nodded, "Okay, but do you even know where he's at? Or if what you saw already happened?"

Ana was on the verge of snapping again before she stopped herself, realizing that Missouri was only trying to help as she had told Ana she would. "No. I don't." she answered honestly.

"Right then, before you go running off, we need to figure that out." Missouri walked over to where Ana stood just before the beaded curtain, "Close your eyes and focus, you should be able to bring parts of the vision back that will help you." Ana nodded and did what she was told, "Try to remember specific details of what you saw. What Dean was wearing, where he was at. Focusing on the details will help."

It took a few minutes, but the more Ana focused on the bar and the demons that had attacked Dean the easier it was to pull the vision back into focus. "It looks like he's in an old biker bar." she spoke out loud, digging deeper into the vision she tried to find something to help her tell when it happened. Her eyes flew open, "I don't know where but it happens tonight, just before ten. I have to find out where he's at." she spoke quickly and pulled out her phone as an idea struck her.

She searched through her contacts, thankful at that moment that when she had a break earlier on the road she had added the three numbers that were in her pocket into her device. "Come on, come on, come on…" she muttered to herself as she listened to the phone ring.

"Hello?"

"Oh thank God! Sam, are you with Dean?" Ana asked, relieved that he had picked up.

"Yeah," he answered, "We're at the bunker looking for a case. What's up?"

Ana sighed, "Don't let him leave for the rest of the night. I'll be there in four hours." she told Sam and pulled the phone away from her ear to talk to Missouri. "Thank you so much for your help, but I have to go." she said as she dug her keys out of her pocket.

"Go, honey, and save that stubborn man!" Missouri told her with a smile and watched her walk out the door.

"Ana, where are you?" Sam questioned, "Who was that?"

She rolled her eyes as she started the engine, "I'm in Lawrence. I was visiting Missouri Moseley, but that's not important right now, Sam!" she raised her voice. "Sorry," she apologized, "but you need to keep Dean there. Neither of you should leave the bunker."

"You had a vision," the realization seemed to hit Sam with surprise, "what was it? What did you see?"

"That won't be important if you keep Dean from leaving the bunker." Ana told him, knowing that both brothers would worry about what she saw more than what they needed to do to avoid it. Hell, knowing what they were like, Dean would most likely go after the demons guns blazing without a second thought. "I'm serious, Sam. I'm already on the road, I will be there in less than four hours."

She heard Sam swear under his breath, "Okay, we won't leave." he assured her.

"Good. I'll be there as fast as I can." she said as she hung up the phone, picking up speed.

It didn't take as long as she thought it would to get there, it helped that she was speeding most of the way. She was thankful that a few of her dreams had given her enough to go off to find the bunker. When she turned off her engine the clock on her dashboard read nine fifteen.

There wasn't much of a wait after she knocked on the metal door, she smiled at Sam who stood on the otherside. "Where's Dean?" she questioned as she walked inside, thankful to be out of the cold.

"Yeah… about that…" Sam gave her a nervous look, "I told him that you said we shouldn't leave then he freaked and stormed out."

Ana just stared at him a moment, processing what he just said, "Dammit, Sam!" she pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at the time. "We need to hurry. There's only twenty minutes."

"Twenty minutes to what?"

"Until your brother is swarmed in whatever bar he is in by demons!" She snapped, "That was my vision, Sam! He's going to get freaking ambushed and he's not going to make it out alive." She shook her head, "No, I won't let it happen. Here's the plan, you go get whatever weapons you can quickly, I'm going to go now and start changing things." she told him, thankful that they hadn't even gotten down the stairs as she walked toward the door.

Sam watched her, "You can't go alone! You don't even know how to fight!"

"We don't have time for this! Hell I don't know what bar he's at." she realized as she turned back to look at Sam, "He's in an old, dirty biker bar. Do you know where that's at?"

He nodded, "It's the one he normally goes to, it's ten minutes away." he told her as he grabbed his jacket and pushed her out of the door.

"We need weapons!" She reminded him as they moved toward her car.

"He drove the Impala, the trunk is full of all of the weapons we'll need." He told her, getting into the passenger seat. "Just get us there and I'll handle the rest."

Ana drove faster than she should have, following Sam's directions closely in hopes that they would get there sooner and have more time. As she pulled the car into the parking lot, she stopped it next to the Impala and killed the engine. "We have five minutes before he leaves with the girl he's been flirting with for the past hour. That's when the demons make their move." she explained as they got out and made their way to the trunk of the Impala. "I'm going to go inside and throw things off. I didn't see myself in the vision so hopefully it changes things enough so this doesn't end with all three of us dying." she spoke quickly as he opened the cover to the arsonal.

Sam shook his head, grabbing a canister of holy water and a shotgun, "You're not going in there, you'll get hurt."

"I'm going whether you like it or not." She told him sternly, looking around the trunk for a weapon that she could hide in her jacket, "You wait out here until you see them move, then come in. If we surprise them we can get the upper hand." she explained as she reached for a pistol that she shoved into the waste of her jeans and then a stray angel blade that she could hide up her sleeve. "I'll get out of the way once I know you two have it covered, these are just precaution." she added before checking the time. "Shit." she swore and jogged toward the door.

Before entering the bar, she stopped, took in a deep breath, and ran her hands through her hair, hoping to hell that whatever plan she had just concocted would work. Once on the other side of the door her eyes fell instantly on Dean and the blonde woman. Ana moved quickly over to them, putting on her best game face as she pushed herself between them, her body angled toward the woman, "Beat it, he's spoken for." she snapped, giving her a wicked smile and a death glare. The woman took a moment to look between Ana and Dean before she turned and left with a scowl.

"Ana! What the hell?!" Dean questioned, spinning her around so she was facing him. "I thought you were going back to Montana?"

She placed a calming hand on his chest, "This isn't the time to talk about that," she told him quietly, "we have a problem." she added and glanced at the clock, fear filling her as she watched the time turn to nine fifteen. Standing up on her tip toes, she wrapped her arms around his upper back, hugging him so she could get close to his ear, "Demons. Seven of them. Sam's outside waiting." she whispered before letting him go and smiling up at him.

Dean's expression hardened, "You shouldn't have put yourself in danger." he told her, keeping his voice low as he looked around the room, waiting for a move to be made.

"We can discuss that later, right now we need to make sure we get out of here alive." she responded quietly before wrapping her arm around his, "Come on, let's go home." she added, a little louder as if to keep up their show.

He nodded and began to lead her toward the door, but they only made it a few steps before they were quickly surrounded by demons. "Going some where, Winchester?" one asked from in front of them. The demon was possessing the body of a large man clad in leather and covered in tattoos.

"Well actually I was hoping to catch a nightcap with your mom after tucking the tyke in," Dean gestured to Ana, "But if you keep me too long I don't think I'll make it." he gave the demon a smirk.

Ana elbowed him in the side, "Really? I'm an adult, ya know?" she chided him through gritted teeth.

Dean looked down at her and shrugged before the demons began to make their move. "Ana, get out of here!" he told her, moving in front of her to take on the brunt of the force.

She rolled her eyes as she pulled the pistol out, "Yeah, I'll just levitate toward the door!" she told him sarcastically as she spun around, bringing the gun up and firing a couple of rounds into the chest of the demon closest to her. When it only seemed to barely slow him down, she swore, she had hoped that the bullets would have had devil traps carved into them. Dropping the gun, she let the angel blade slide down her sleeve and held it out just in time. She watched as bright light flashed through the demon's eyes and it dropped to the floor.

Her victory was short lived as an arm grabbed her from behind. It snaked around her neck until she was pulled against the demon's body and she knew that all it would take was a quick move to either snap her neck or cut of her air flow completely. It spun her around so that she could see that Dean had already taken out two and that he and Sam were fighting the last three, "Oooh, Dean." the demon spoke and as the group in front of them realized what had happened, they stopped.

"Let her go!" Dean snapped, his body was tense with the need to make a move, but he wouldn't risk her life.

"Now why would I do that?" the demon asked, Ana could hear the grin in his tone, "I now have exactly what we came here for. Did you really think that I would waste my time going after you? Your time will be up soon enough." As he continued to speak, Ana's fear spiked and it took everything in her to not start screaming or crying, begging for her life even crossed her mind.

Sam glared at the demon, "Why do you want her? She's just a girl!" he barked, his knuckles turned white as he gripped the demon killing knife in his hand.

"There are so many things you don't know and I'm going to enjoy every moment of her pain while you try to figure it out." the demon snarled.

The words began to click in Ana's head, some how processing beyond her fear. The demons had come for her, this was some kind of trap, they were going to hurt her. "No!" she screamed, shoving her hands under the demon's arm and then slamming the back of her head against his face while quickly pushing out enough to drop from his grasp.

"Stay down!" Dean told her, taking the millisecond that the demon was surprised by her actions to raise his gun and shoot him, the force of the bullet throwing him back a few feet. He moved quickly to grab the angel blade out of the chest of the demon Ana had killed.

Ana watched as the demon who had held her captive, a tall man in a dark grey suit, moved toward Dean, murder in his eyes. Dean moved faster, bringing his leg up to kick the man in the chest before running at him, plunging the blade into his chest, only stopping when they hit a wall. Her attention quickly turned to Sam who was pulling the demon knife out of the chest of the last demon he had been facing.

"Ana?" Sam moved over to her quickly, kneeling next to her, "Are you okay?" he questioned, worry in his eyes as he looked over her body for signs of a wound.

She nodded slightly, her body was shaking with fear, "I think so." she answered softly as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"We need to get back to the bunker, now." Dean told them both as he walked over to where they were on the floor, he looked down at his brother, "Go start the car." he instructed, handing Sam the keys. Sam nodded as he stood up and made his way out of the bar. "That was a dumb move, kid." Dean told her, offering her his hand to help her up.

Ana gripped his hand and let him pull her on to her feet, "Which part? Coming in here to save your ass, going up against a demon on my own, or headbutting one that could have easily killed me?" she asked, the sarcasm clear even as her voice shook.

"Yes." he answered as he carefully placed his fingers underneath her chin and lifted her head slightly, turning it side to side to inspect her neck for any markings. "Come on, we have a lot to figure out and I want to get you somewhere safe before anything else happens." he told her as he dropped his fingers and lead her out the door.

When they reached the Impala, Sam closed the trunk and walked over to them, "Ana, why don't you get in the car?" Dean told her as he watched her shake.

"What about my car? I don't want to leave it here." She told him, "And it has my things in it."

Dean glared at her a moment before extending his hand, palm up, "You ride with Sam in Baby and I'll follow behind you guys in your car." he told her.

"First of all, referring to your car as 'Baby' is weird. Secondly, my car is a manual, do you even know how to drive a stick?" she raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

He scoffed, "Of course I know how to drive a stick, now give me your keys." She rolled her eyes and handed them over. They walked toward both cars, before she closed the door to the Impala Dean grabbed it, holding it open, "Don't you talk crap about Baby." he added then shut the door.

A short time later they walked from the garage where both cars had been parked and into the large room that was surrounded in book shelves. Ana recognized it instantly and smiled softly as she looked around, there was something oddly calming about the place.

"Why don't you have a seat." Sam told her, "I'll go grab you something to drink." he offered and turned toward the direction of the kitchen.

Dean placed his hand on her shoulder and steered her toward the table, "Sit down, I want to take a look at your neck." he instructed her.

"You looked at it at the bar." She pointed out.

"The bar had crappy lighting, I couldn't see anything. Now sit down." He repeated.

Ana sighed and pulled her jacket off, seeing by how his jaw was set that it wouldn't be a good idea to try and argue with him. She tossed her jacket on one of the chairs and sat down on the table, scooting back until her knees hit the edge. "Dean, I'm fine." she told him in minor protest, she didn't want him to think that she was fragile.

The look he gave her as he threw his jacket down on top of her's was a mixture of a questioning glance and a small glare that in itself called her crazy, "That bastard was basically choking you, Ana." he stated as he moved to stand in front of her. "Tilt your head up for me."

"I told you, I'm fi-"

"Damn it, Anastasia, just look up." He growled. His use of her full name made her pause and look into his eyes where she saw determination along with the slightest hint of worry. She took in a small calming breath before lifting her chin up so that her eyes were focused on the ceiling. "Looks like you're going to bruise," he explained as he moved a hand to touch the side of her neck, which caused her to jump, "Sorry, just wanted to cheek… does this hurt?" he asked, pushing softly against her skin.

"A little." She told him honestly.

Sam walked back into the room with a bottle of water in hand, pausing mid-step to watch Dean check her over and then continued on to take a look for himself, "Thankfully it wasn't anything worse." he commented, causing Ana to jump again.

She lowered her chin so she could see the both of them, not liking that they were seeing her so jumpy, but then again, she had a damn good reason to be. "Exactly. I can handle a little bruising." she agreed, giving Dean a pointed look.

"Here." Sam offered her the water, "I wasn't sure what you'd want, figured water was a safe bet."

Ana nodded slowly, "Thanks, Sam." she took the bottle from him.

"So, why don't you explain the vision you had." Dean took a seat in a chair to her left, "It must have been bad if you came all the way here to stop it from happening."

"Uh…" she muttered awkwardly as she scooted herself back on the table, pulling her legs in so she was sitting cross-legged. "It started with you in the bar, flirting up the blonde. Then I saw you surrounded by demons alone." she explained.

Sam sighed and sat down to her right, "Tell him the rest, Ana."

Dean glanced from Sam back to Ana, who he noticed was peeling the wrapper off of the water bottle in her hands. She sighed as she looked down at her hands, finally realizing what she had been doing, it was an anxiety tick she had developed in high school, "I saw you die." she told him, not looking up from her hands.

It took Dean a moment to process what she just said, but as it sank in he sat forward in his chair, "You saw me die?" he questioned, receiving a small nod in answer. His anger flared, "And you thought it was a good idea to throw yourself into that situation?!" he snapped, slamming his fist on the table as he stood up.

"I couldn't let you die!" She snapped back, jerking her head up to look into his eyes, "There's a reason I saw that, Dean, and it was so I could stop it. Which I did!"

"Okay, guys, why don't we take the yelling down a notch?" Sam's tone was calm, hoping to put a quick end to the argument.

Dean spun on him, accusation in his eyes, "You knew! You knew what she saw and you didn't tell me!" he turned his anger on his brother.

"Woah, hey." Sam raised his hands in surrender, "She didn't tell me until she showed up here and you were gone."

Understanding hit him as he turned back to focus on Ana, "Why didn't you tell us to begin with?" his voice had lowered in an almost scary way.

She gave him a hard look as she took in a deep breath, "If I had told you, what would you have done, Dean?" she questioned, pushing herself off of the table so she could stand in front of him, "You wouldn't have stayed here where it was safe. You would have gone in there anyway and tried to take them all down."

"But I wouldn't have gone in alone and I wouldn't have been unprepared!" He argued, back to snapping.

Ana threw her hands up in defeat as she turned away from him, "You still could have died! Probably would have, along with Sam!" she spun around, realizing something, "They were there for me…" she trailed off, her eyes focusing on something in the distance as she thought, "There's something I'm missing." she sounded confused.

"Why would they want you to begin with?" Sam asked, having been trying to figure it out himself, "Word couldn't have gotten out in the past day that you're a psychic whose visions are focused on us."

Ana shrugged, "I honestly don't know… but I might be able to find out." she pulled out a chair and sat down quickly, "Just let me try something." she told them.

She got comfortable in the chair, closed her eyes, and pulled her focus away from the room around her, turning it inward. After taking a couple of deep breaths she began to remember the demon from the bar, the one that had captured her. She focused on the grey suit, the way his blonde hair was slicked back, and how the lights of the bar reflected in his black eyes. It didn't take long before a vision came forward, she saw the demon talking to another man.

" _I need the girl alive. So you lure her to you however you please, but if you bring her back to me in anything less than perfect condition, it will be your head on a stake." the man told the demon in front of him._

" _And if she's with the Winchesters?" the demon asked, seeming as if he really didn't want to anger the man in front of him._

 _The man grinned, "If you take out one or both of the Winchesters, I will double your reward."_

The vision was short and ended abruptly, causing her to jump as it left her. "Ana? Did you just... force yourself to have a vision?" Sam asked, watching herself carefully.

She looked over at him, noticing the tense lines around his eyes, "I didn't force it, no. I don't think I could, but I… I guess you could say I welcomed it." she tried to explain.

"How did you figure that out in the small amount of time we've been separated?" Dean asked, looking like he was completely lost and ready to drown everything out with a bottle of liquor.

"After you left this morning and Jody took me back to my car, I went to Lawrence to track down Missouri Moseley in hopes that should could help me figure this out." Ana told him, "She explained some stuff to me and gave me a few tips."

Dean smiled softly, "Missouri's still going. That's good, it's honestly been so long since I thought about the last time we met her." he told Sam. Then he suddenly remembered that they had gotten off topic, "So this vision you 'welcomed', what did it show you?"

Ana thought back to moments before, "The demon who captured me at the bar, he was working for someone. A man that instructed him to bring me to him alive." she told them, leaving out the part of the conversation they had about the men in front of her.

"Why? What do they want with you?" Dean asked, at a loss for an answer.

There was the sound of ruffling wings and then Castiel appeared at Dean's side, "I believe I have found the answer to that question, Dean." he stated, looking over to Ana. "The man you saw in your vision is a demon named Barbas, he is a higher ranking demon who has decided to unleash Hell on to Earth while dropping the contents of Heaven on to it as well." he explained.

Dean waited for him to say more, but when it was obvious that Cas wasn't going to he raised an eyebrow, "What does that have to do with, Ana?"

Castiel slowly turned his attention back to Dean, eyes sad, "The ritual that would do such a thing requires a specific sacrifice to be bled dry. Ana is the sacrifice Barbas needs."


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Hey guys! Just a warning, I wrote the majority of this late at night so I sincerely apologize if there are mistake or it doesn't make sense in parts! My bad... This is a minor chapter compared to the previous ones, I'm setting up some things for future chapters, please bare with me if this is a little boring. The song I reference in this chapter is Down by Jason Walker, all rights to him. (Yes, I know he and my OC have the same last name. No, I did not plan that. I just really like the song.)_

 _I do not own Supernatural or any of it's characters, which you already know. Please enjoy! :)_

The silence that filled the room after Castiel's words was almost tangible. All eyes were on Ana as she sat, not moving in her chair, eyes wide with shock and fear. Dean watched her carefully for a moment, so many thoughts rushing through his mind, then turned to look at Cas, "Why her?" he questioned, trying to suppress the anger that began to fill him.

Castiel slowly moved his gaze from Ana to Dean, "I have yet to find the reason that Barbas has chosen her, but for a ritual like this I'm assuming it wasn't at random. It's an ancient ritual and most are very picky with their sacrifices." he explained.

"Why would he want to do this ritual in the first place?" Sam asked, getting up from his chair, "Unleashing Hell on Earth I get, most demons want that, but dropping Heaven down too… wouldn't that be counterproductive?"

Castiel sighed, obviously very taxed with the trouble at hand with this ritual, "How it happens doesn't work out so well for the angels. The way the demons are released from Hell is simple, any devil's gate on the planet will be opened wide and left that way. Heaven, on the other hand, will be… dropped onto Earth. Everything that is there would then be on this plane. All of the angels and the souls of the dead alike. The souls alone would cause utter chaos."

"What would happen to the angels?" Ana asked softly. The first words out of her mouth after learning of her impending death wasn't about her own safety, but curiosity about others'.

Sam and Dean watched Cas carefully as he made his way over to Ana, sitting down in a chair beside her. "Unlike when all of the angels were dropped from Heaven, not all will lose their grace. The weaker angels, the ones who are youngest and of lower ranking will most likely be stripped of it, but the stronger angels whom have been alive for many years will be able to keep theirs if they are prepared."

Ana looked into Castiel's blue eyes, seeing the worry he held there for his brothers and sisters as well as for the fate of mankind. "We need to make sure this doesn't happen." Ana stated, standing up and turning to look at the brothers.

"We're obviously not going to let you die, Ana." Dean commented flatly.

She shook her head, "This isn't about me. This about the angels, about the souls in heaven, the people on this planet."

Dean crossed the distance between them in three long strides, "Don't you dare say this isn't about you. He chose you for a reason, Ana, and whatever that reason is may be important. This doesn't seem to be anything to do with us," he gestured between himself and Sam, "so there is something specifically about you that made you the choice. I've seen enough of this crap in my life that I know it's going to have something to do with your visions." he was almost yelling by the time he finished speaking.

Ana stared up at him, confused about his sudden anger at her words, so confused that all she could do at first was nod, "I get that, I understand, but how many times have you two faced down something big and bad, not caring about your own lives because you could save so many more?" she questioned, "It's not that I don't care about my own life, it's that I realize that this is bigger than just saving me. Missouri told me I could save lives and I'm going to do just that." she explained, her tone even.

"You two need to stop arguing and we need to start figuring things out." Sam said, moving over to them. "We need to start figuring out why Barbas chose you and anything else we can about this ritual. Ana, you're going to be staying here for a while so you're safe. Why don't you go back to the garage and grab your things? We'll find you a room and we can all get some rest tonight, then we can start working in the morning." Staring at Dean a few moments longer, she nodded before moving around the man in front of her and heading back the direction they had come in from.

Sam waited until he could no longer hear her footsteps before turning on his brother, "What the hell was that, Dean?"

"What?" Dean snapped, moving over to a small table that a bottle of whiskey sat on, "She was acting as if she had zero disregard for her life." he said as if that were an explanation. He grabbed a glass and opened the bottle, filling the glass half full before he put the bottle back down.

"You're not telling us something," Sam observed as he sat down next to Cas, "You've been acting weird ever since we went to Jody's."

Dean scoffed into his glass before swallowing its contents whole. He took a deep breath before he spoke, "Yeah, weird." he commented more to himself as he looked at the empty glass in his hand.

Castiel looked at his friend carefully, "Dean, you can tell us anything." he pushed on, hoping to get answers.

"I don't want to talk about it, alright?" Dean snapped, turning his back on the table to pour himself another drink.

"Whatever, man, but if what you're not telling us is going to hinder getting information about this damn ritual, I will beat it out of you." Sam warned as he pushed the chair away from the table and stood up.

Ana cleared her throat, she had caught the end of their argument but didn't quite catch what it was about, "Am I interrupting something?" she questioned, sheepishly.

Sam turned around to see her standing just at the edge of the room with her bags over her shoulder, he shook his head, "No, you didn't. Why don't we go find you a room and you can get settled? There's no telling how long you're going to be here, might as well make yourself at home." he offered, as he ushered her out of the room and down the hall toward the bedrooms.

Castiel watched Dean empty another glass of whiskey before he spoke, "I'm going to see what else I can find out about the ritual." he stated before disappearing.

Waiting until the sound of ruffling wings was gone, Dean turned around to make sure he was alone before grabbing the bottle and making his way over to the table. He sat down, leaned back, and kicked his feet up on the corner of the table while pouring himself another glass, knowing it would take a lot more than what was left in the bottle to wipe away the guilt of his secret.

-A-

"This is my room," Sam tapped the doorknob as they passed it, "and Dean's is just down the hall, but all of these other rooms are open so you can pick whichever one you want."

Ana nodded, "It doesn't really matter to me." she told him with a shrug, opening the next door they came across. The room was pretty bare; full size bed, dresser, and a desk being the only things taking up space. "This will do." she decided, placing her bags on the bed. It wasn't anything like home, but it was better than a hotel room.

"There are a few bathrooms in this place, there's one with a shower right there," he pointed to a door to the left and across the hall, "that neither of us use so you can take that one." He explained, "You should get settled for the night, you could probably use some sleep."

She shrugged, "I'm not too tired. I'm used to running on less sleep than what I got last night." she told him, "But I could really use a shower."

Sam laughed softly, "Alright, well I'll leave you alone. There should be towels in there, but if not I'll be in my room. If you need anything at all just let me know."

"Thanks, Sam." she gave him a smile which he returned before leaving, closing the door behind him. Ana looked around the room one more time before she opened her duffle bag, finding a pair of sweats and a tank top to sleep in, she grabbed her toiletries and headed for the bathroom.

The bathroom was simple, as she began to realize that most things in the bunker would be that didn't pertain to the main goal of the Men of Letters, but it had a shower and that's all she really cared about at the moment. She set her clothes down on the closed lid of the toilet and placed her shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in the shower. Turning the water on, she adjusted the temperature and left it to run a minute before she moved over to the mirror above the sink, noticing that she looked a lot worse than she thought she did.

There were light purple marks already surfacing on her neck and that made her frown, but her eyes were what really caught her off guard. They were red, almost tired looking, but she didn't feel tired. She sighed and turned away from her reflection, hoping that the water would get hot enough to help drown out her new worry.

-A-

When she opened the door to the bathroom, steamed flooded into the hallway, and the cold air that surrounded her as she walked into the hallway made her shiver. She had stayed under the hot water until it began to turn cold. As she made her way back to her bedroom, bare feet padding against the floor, she noticed the silence that had fallen over the place. _The boys must have gone to bed,_ she thought to herself as she opened the door to her room and set her clothes from the day on the bed.

She stood there for a moment, looking back and forth between her duffle bag and the dresser across the room, finally deciding that since she didn't know how long she was going to be there she might as well unpack. It would save her the hassle of having to dig through her bag for things. It didn't take her long, she had packed maybe a week's worth of clothes, they didn't even fill up an entire drawer. With her dirty clothes in her duffle bag, she set it on the floor near the dresser then moved to place her laptop bag on the desk.

As she looked around, she realized that she wouldn't be sleeping for a while, so she grabbed her iPod and headphones out of her laptop bag then left her room. She opened a playlist and turned the volume on full blast as she walked down the hall, back toward the main room of the bunker. Happy to see that no one was there, she walked in and began humming the soft song playing in her ears, making her way toward one of the bookcases and glancing over the titles of the books, those that were in languages she could read at least. Reaching for a random book, she took it over to the large table and was about to sit down to look at it when the song changed.

The music instantly pulled her focus away from the room, it was one of the songs that could distract her from almost anything. The beat and melodies calling to the dancer in her. She had found her passion for dance just before she entered school and it only grew the more she realized that it was one of the things that just came easily to her. Not being able to stop herself and since no one was around, she moved away from the table and let the beat of the music fill her mind.

 _I don't know where I'm at, I'm standing at the back and I'm tired of waiting... Waiting here in line, hoping that I'll find what I've been chasing..._

The lyrics rang through her ears as she reached up toward the lights and rolled on to the balls of her feet, the feeling of the muscles in her legs and feet working made her smile. Letting everything else fade away, she continued on in a beautiful flurry of arms, legs, and still damp hair.

 _I don't want to hear the sound of losing what I never found…._

She slowly stopped moving as the words of the second chorus hit her hard, this song had always reminded her of her mother and sometimes her father. A tear slid down her cheek and landed on her hand as she lifted her iPod to stop the song, she pulled her headphones out and turned to place them on the table, freezing as her eyes made contact with the man watching her from across the room.

"That was amazing." Dean told her, watching her carefully, he hoped that she wouldn't think that he had been intruding on her.

Ana stood there a moment longer before she spoke, "How long were you standing there?"

"Uhh.. the whole time?" Dean admitted, "I tried to get your attention before you moved away from the table but you must have had your music turned up pretty loud."

She nodded, "I didn't think anyone was awake, otherwise I would have stayed in my room."

"Hey," he walked over to her, stopping when he stood in front of her, "You don't have to hide out in your room. If you want to dance somewhere though, there's a room that we converted into a sort of a gym. There's more room in there." he told her.

"I just… you seemed mad earlier and I didn't want to make it worse." She explained, "I know that sometimes you just need your space."

The comment made Dean chuckle, "Yeah, I guess you do know a lot about me that most people don't." he agreed, turning to sit down at the table.

"I do." she agreed, "But I understand that the things I know aren't to be told to just anyone. I don't feel the need to share everything about you that you try to keep to yourself." she assured him.

"I appreciate that." he told her honestly, "And I'm sorry about earlier, I promise I'm not trying to be an ass."

Ana laughed, it was a happy sound, "You're just naturally a little abrasive." she told him with a grin as she sat down in the chair that she had pulled out earlier. "I'm not expecting you to suddenly change, I'm a big girl, I can handle you being an ass."

"We'll see about that, Sam claims to be a big girl too and he just gives me the bitch face any time I'm an ass." he pointed out, placing his arms on the table as he leaned forward, giving her a strange look, "But I don't think you're the bitch face type."

"Nah, making a face like that would give me premature wrinkles and I avoid anything that would cause that." she told him seriously, "I don't let the sun hit my face, I only drink water, I don't eat anything that has salt in it or isn't gluten free, and I never smile or frown." she mimicked his pose.

Dean looked at her like she was crazy, "What? You're eighteen freaking years old? And how do you not eat anything with gluten, that shit is in everything!" his voice grew frantic, "I will never understand women."

Ana watched him have his mini freak out before she began to laugh, "Oh my God, you should have seen your face!" she continued to laugh a little, "I was joking! Pft, like I'm really that vain, plus gluten free food is disgusting."

"Right?!" he agreed, watching her a moment before he breached a topic that had been on his mind since she left with Sam after their argument, "So, how are you holding up, kid? This whole Barbas crap is kind of a lot to take in."

The smile slowly faded from her face as she was reminded of the threat on her life, "I… I'm okay I think." she told him honestly. "I'm in probably the safest place on Earth with two of the men who are more familiar with this sort of stuff than anyone should ever have to be, so I figure that's a good start at stopping it. I just wish I knew why he needs me."

Dean nodded, giving her a soft, almost apologetic smile, "We'll figure it out, Ana, and we're going to keep you safe until we find a way to stop it. I promise."

"Dean Winchester making me a promise, now I know this is serious." she commented, trying to lighten the mood a little.

"Well don't get used to it, I don't make 'em often."

She nodded, "I know, thanks Dean." she told him, knowing that those words meant a whole lot more to him than they did to almost everyone else. Reaching her arms above her, she stretched and began to yawn.

"Go to bed. It's late and you've had a long couple of days." He told her as he glanced at the clock and noticed that it was almost one in the morning.

"Sleep does sound pretty amazing." she said, standing up from her chair. "Good night, Dean." she smiled at him before turning to head back toward her bedroom.

"Good night." He replied, sighing to himself once she was out of the room.

-A-

It hadn't taken Ana long to fall asleep once she got into bed, but her rest was quickly interrupted by more visions. She watched Sam and Dean as teenagers in school for a while, then she watched as Mary burned on the ceiling of Sam's nursery, then bounced forward again, seeing them meeting Ellen and Jo for the first time. For a while it was really confusing, then the vision suddenly shifted again and she saw herself tied to a wooden chair, her wrists in cuffs.

Even sleeping, she could tell the difference between the feeling of seeing something from the past and the feeling of seeing the future; knowing that she had never been tied to a chair like that seemed to help make sense of it all and it made what she was seeing so much harder to watch.

 _Her head was dropped low, as if she were unconscious, but she could see the rise and fall of her own chest which was a good sign. At least she was still alive. The room that she was being held in was dark, but what she could see of it looked familiar. There was the sound of squealing hinges as light flooded the room, revealing the metal walls and the devil's trap on the floor. Just as she realized where she was being held, her future self lifted up her head, opening her eyes to reveal nothing but black._

Ana hadn't realized that she had been screaming out until strong hands gripped her shoulders and shook her slightly, "Ana! Wake up!" Sam yelled at her, trying to pull her out of whatever vision or nightmare she was caught in.

Her eyes snapped open and she stopped screaming, sitting up quickly to look at the man that was sitting next to her on her bed. Dean moved from where he had been standing by the door and walked to stand next to her bed, "You alright?" he questioned, part of him was almost waiting for her to start screaming again, the look on her face was pure terror.

"Ana?" Sam dropped his hands from her shoulders, waiting for her to speak or at least blink, she was starting to worry him.

As she let out a breath, she closed her eyes and took another deep breath before opening them again, "How long was I screaming for?"

"Couple of minutes." Sam answered, "I'd been trying to get you to snap out of it but it wasn't working."

She nodded, looking at Dean as he squatted down next to her, "So… vision or nightmare?" he asked, his green eyes squinting at her in worry.

"Vision."

"What part of our crappy lives was it this time?" He stood up again, assuming that they could be there a while so he grabbed the chair from her desk to sit on.

Ana shook her head, "It wasn't about either of you. Not the worst part at least." she explained as she leaned back against the headboard. "It was my own future."

Sam moved to sit at the foot of the bed, wanting to give her some room and not as worried now that she was talking, "This is the first time you've seen your own future, isn't it?"

She nodded, "Yeah and if they're all going to be like that I think I can go the rest of my life without having another vision about myself."

"What'd you see?" Dean questioned as he rubbed a hand over his tired eyes, he had just gone to bed when she started screaming.

"I was…" she closed her eyes, seeing another quick flash of herself with pitch black eyes, "I was possessed, you had me chained up in the room with the devil's trap."

The brothers shared a concerned look that was completely missed by Ana. "Well, I know of one sure fire way to make sure that vision never happens." Dean piped up, "How do you feel about tattoos?"

Ana chuckled and looked over at him, "Well seeing as I've already got a few I don't think I can object to your idea." She said, understanding that he was thinking about the anti-possession tattoo.

Dean leaned forward in his chair, raising an eyebrow at her, "You've been eighteen for what? Two months and you already have more than one tattoo?"

"Let's not go there, alright?" She questioned, "Look, I'm exhausted, we can talk more about this in the morning. Now get out of my room and go back to bed, both of you."

"Who do you think you are?" He snapped halfheartedly as he stood up, looking down at the girl that just gave him an order.

Sam stood up and a small smirk, patting his brother on the shoulder, "Come on. Let's get out of here so she can sleep."

Dean looked at Sam, clearly shocked that a girl half his age tried to give him an order, "But she-"

"I know, Dean, come on." Sam interrupted as he steered his big brother out of the room, being careful not to show how much the situation was amusing him.

"This is not over, Anastasia." Dean told her over his shoulder, glaring at her, "So not over!" he shouted as Sam closed the door behind them.

Ana rolled her eyes and chuckled softly to herself, she sure as hell wasn't sure what to think of the way Dean had been treating her, but he had his moments. When she closed her eyes to try to fall back to sleep all she saw was her own black eyes, an image she was sure would stick with her for a while. She took in a deep breath and pushed the image aside, forcing herself to focus instead on the vision she had of her mother. A large part of her hoped that whatever path she had just decided to take would have made her mother proud, it had been her main goal for as long as she could remember. It didn't matter what else she did in this life as long as whatever she was doing would some how grant her even partial forgiveness for causing her mother's death.

-A-

The rest of the night was, thankfully, quiet in her subconscious, but it was rudely interrupted by the sound of loud banging on her door. "Time to wake up, sleeping beauty!" Dean yelled as he threw the door open hard enough to bang obnoxiously against the wall behind it.

"Go away." Ana grumbled, grabbing her pillow and hiding underneath it, hoping that he would leave her alone so she could get more sleep.

"Oh no. You're not getting off of the hook that easy. No one gives me orders." He informed her with a smirk, leaning against the door frame. "You have ten seconds to get out of bed before I start to sing, and trust me, it won't be pretty."

She lifted the pillow off of her face enough so she could speak, "I swear I'm going to throw something at you." she warned, knowing that it had to be pretty early in the morning. "What are you even doing up? You went to bed after I did."

Dean scoffed, "I'll sleep when I'm dead, plus we have to start research on this whole Barbas situation." he looked down at his wrist as if there was actually a watch there and looked back at her, "Well, would you look at that, your time's up." he commented walking over to her bed and squatting next to her head.

"Mama! Just killed a man…" he began to sing, no not sing, he was definitely yelling lyrics, right next to her ear. She gripped the pillow that was over her head in both hands before moving to push it against his face with force, successfully ending his song. "Don't you dare do Freddie Mercury the injustice of ruining his music like that." she grumbled before letting go of the pillow and sitting up.

He grabbed the pillow as it fell from his face, grinning widely, "I warned you, just because you didn't move quickly doesn't make it my fault." he stood up, dropping the pillow on the bed. "Come on, there's breakfast and we really do need to get started on research."

"I know, I'm just not much of a morning person. Well… at least not when I get some actual sleep at night." a yawn escaped her mouth as she pushed the blankets off of herself. "Wait, did you say breakfast?" she asked, looking up at him, "Frozen waffles and cereal kind of breakfast or did you actually cook?"

"I guess you'll just have to get up to find out." he answered with a grin before turning on his heel and leaving her room.

She groaned and stood up out of bed, not bothering to change into different clothes, she just grabbed the purple pull-over hoodie out of her dresser and pulled it on. Something about the mornings kept her colder than normal, even when the weather was another yawn she left her room, pulling her wild hair into a messy bun on top of her head while she walked toward the kitchen.

"Good morning." Sam greeted with a smile as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Morning." she mumbled, still irritated that she was woken up, even more so when she looked around the kitchen, "Seriously, Dean, you could have warned me so I didn't get my hopes up." she growled at him as she realized he hadn't made breakfast.

She turned to see him grin in triumph as he poured himself a bowl of cereal, "I don't cook for disrespectful children."

"I'm eighteen!" She snapped, glaring at him, "I am not a child and I am not disrespectful. What you may have taken as an order last night was my tired attempt to get you two out of my room so I could sleep!"

Sam watched them a moment before deciding that if he didn't distract them this argument would go on longer than necessary, "How did you sleep?" he asked, Ana, "Anymore visions?"

Ana continued to glare at Dean, "I was actually sleeping well when _someone_ decided that I needed to be up at the asscrack of dawn!"

"Hey, it's past seven, I could have gotten you up at six."

Groaning, Ana turned away from him and walked over to where Sam was standing by the coffee pot, "I don't know how you've lived with him your whole life and haven't killed him yet." she told him as she reached for a mug off of the counter and filled it up.

Sam laughed, "Trust me, I've considered it more than once, but I know he'd just come back to haunt my ass."

"I can hear you two, ya know?" Dean growled, glaring daggers at them before grabbing his bowl and heading toward the library. "Come on, we've got work to do."

"We've angered the beast." Ana joked in a whisper before following Dean, Sam following behind her chuckling to himself. "So where do we even start with something like this?" she questioned, setting her cup down on the large table, "All we know is what the ritual does, right?"

"Right." Sam agreed, walking over to a stack of books he already had on the table, "One of the good things about dealing with demonic rituals like this is, for the most part, they're all based out of God based religions. Christianity, Islam, Judaism… so anything polytheistic we can already cancel out."

She scoffed, "But even then that's a lot to go through. Those three separate religions alone have a lot of differences, but at least we're not dealing with the whole damn world." she grumbled the last part to herself.

"Exactly, you don't want to even think about how long this would take if we had to dig through pagan rituals too." Dean pointed out.

Sam shook his head, "I've already glanced through these books and haven't found anything in reference to an ritual like what we're dealing with." he tapped the stack of books next to him, "I'm going to see if I can find anything online, why don't you start pulling more books off of the shelves? Get a good stack and we can start going through those."

Ana nodded and set off on her task, "This is going to take a while, isn't it?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at the brothers.

"Unless Cas comes up with something that can be helpful, this could take a long while." Dean informed her, "So you better prepared yourself now, you may not be leaving this place any time soon."

"Good to know." She grabbed a cart and pushed it over to one of the shelves. It honestly didn't matter to her how long she was going to be there, from what Missouri said she was meant to be with the Winchesters for a while and with the situation at hand she knew there was no where safer for her to be. Part of her just hoped that neither her or Dean tried to kill the other before they figured out how to stop this ritual without keeping her locked in the bunker permanently.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Hi :) I've been so excited for this chapter! I'm going to warn you now that this is a little shorter than the rest due to the amount of content in it. I feel as if there's a lot to take in and I didn't want to over do it. Big thank you to everyone reading, to those of you who are following and anyone who added this to their favorites. I hope you enjoy it!_

Three days passed and they weren't making any progress with their research. They had found a ritual that unleashed every demon from hell, a ritual that banished all angels to hell, there was even a ritual to drop all of mankind into hell, which was confusing to all of them. Dean had decided it would be best to wait it out until Castiel returned, hopefully he would have something that would at least lead them in the right direction.

Late into the night, after they had given up their search, Ana sat at the large table in the library with her eyes focused on the cloth and small gun part in her hands. The fact that they hadn't been able to find anything on the ritual had her stressed and she wasn't able to go to sleep when she finally went to bed. She needed to take her mind off of it and out of the few options that she had in the bunker she had settled on cleaning the gun she had used the night at the bar. As she suspected it wasn't that dirty, Dean cleaned the guns so often that she would have been surprised if it actually was dirty. She cleaned it none of the less, part of her remembering the words from a memory, "You shoot it, you clean it."

The gun sat on the table, still in pieces as she sat back in her chair and yawning. Reaching for her phone that sat on the edge of the table, she hit the home button to check the time. It was almost two in the morning and she was just barely feeling exhaustion settling in, hopefully she could sleep in tomorrow, She sat back up and began to put in pieces back into top part of the pistol, just as she was just about to position the recoil spring assembly into place she caught movement out of her peripheral vision.

"What do you think you're doing?" Dean's voice was deep and gravely, paired with the look on his face and clothes he was wearing it was clear that he had been sleeping. She had been staying there for almost a week and she had never seen him wearing anything other than jeans, which made seeing him in sweats and barefoot that much weirder.

Ana looked back down at the gun, putting the spring in place before she set it down, "I'm basket weaving." she told him with a grin.

"Ha ha ha, your so freaking hilarious." he muttered as he walked over to the table, "If you ruin one of my guns there will be hell to pay."

"I wouldn't have taken it apart if I didn't know what I was doing." she assured him, "Plus, I wouldn't have known how to get it apart without some prior knowledge, this thing was a bitch to figure out at first."

Dean raised an eyebrow at her and sat down, "So you know about guns?" he asked, grabbing a couple of parts off of the table to look them over, "Looks good so far."

She scoffed at him, "I'm from Montana, of course I know about guns." she took the parts from him and continued to put it back together. "No one in my family was ever really into guns. My aunt told me that my grandparents never owned any and that the only time she had shot one herself was when one of her high school boyfriends took her to the range once." she shrugged, "A couple of my friends growing up were from big hunting families, I learned a bit from them, but it was one of my exes that taught me most of what I know." she explained.

"I just thought you getting that demon in the chest at the bar was luck or due to the close distance, but you knew what you were doing. How's your long range aim?" He was beginning to sound more awake than before and his eyes watched her hands carefully as she finished putting the gun back together.

She shrugged and gave the gun a once over before pulling the slide back to make sure she hadn't jammed anything, the real test would be the next time it was fired, but she had faith in the skills that there wouldn't be any problems. "My pistol aim at a long range could use some work, give me a rifle though and I'm almost spot on."

"With a scope? That's cheating." he commented, holding his hand out for the gun.

"I can aim without a scope." she informed him as she handed him the pistol. "I honestly never thought I would need good aim for anything. I don't hunt and I knew that if I ever needed to defend myself in a situation where I did have a gun, that my target would be close enough for me to have to be completely blind to have to miss."

He chuckled at her last comment, "Yeah, you're right, but having good aim is still a good skill to have. Even more so now that you've been dragged into this life. There's a shooting range in here where you can get some practice in." He set the gun back on the table in front of her, "Keep the gun. We'll start working on your aim tomorrow. I'm going back to bed."

"Good night, Dean."

"Night." He called over his shoulder as he walked out of the room. Once he was out of her sight, he smiled softly to himself and went back to his room.

After cleaning up her mess, she turned off most of the lights in the library and made her way to her bedroom, the unloaded pistol in her hand. Ana placed the gun on her desk next to her laptop and then fell into bed, finally tired enough to ignore her worries and fall asleep.

-A-

Sam leaned against the kitchen counter, coffee mug in one hand and a newspaper in the other. Even though they weren't hunting at the moment he was still keeping tabs on what was going on in the world. He'd come across a possible haunting the day before and sent word to a hunter he knew could handle it, but other than that he hadn't found much.

Castiel appeared next to him, making Sam jump slightly, "I have information. Where are Dean and the girl?" he asked, not bothering to apologize for his sudden appearance.

"They're both sleeping still." Sam told him as he set the paper down on the counter behind him. "I'll go wake up Ana. You got get Dean." he took the lesser of the two evils with a grin and left the room before Castiel could argue.

There was a soft knock at her door, but Ana ignored it, all she wanted was a couple more hours of sleep. Sam wasn't surprised when she didn't answer, he heard from Dean how much of a pain she was to wake up. Opening her door slowly, he watched her sleeping form for a moment before he walked over to her bed, "Ana, Cas is back and he has some news. Time to get up."

She groaned, "Come on Sam," she plead, "This is the first time in months I've slept without waking up screaming at some point during the night."

Sam smiled softly, "I'm sorry, but don't you want to know what Cas found out? I've already made coffee." he bribed.

"Coffee?" she questioned and rolled over to look up at him, "I see my caffeine addiction didn't go unnoticed by you." she sat up, her hair in a crazy mess on top of her head.

"You drink coffee like it's water, kind of hard to not notice." He teased, "Get dressed, I'll have a cup ready for you in the library." he turned to leave.

"Thanks, Sam." she pulled her hair out of the mess it was in and ran her fingers through it.

He smiled at her, "You're not as bad to wake up as Dean has been complaining about and you don't look like a troll either." he told her before closing the door behind him, hoping that what he'd said would give her the extra boost to get up.

"A what?!" she snapped and got out of bed. She dressed quickly in a pair of jeans and a black Motley Crue shirt her aunt had handed down to her then stormed out of her room, not bothering with shoes. When she entered the library and saw that all three men were already there, her eyes landed on Dean and she glared at him.

"What's your deal?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow. Sam looked between the pair with a small grin, noticing how Ana's fists were balled up at her sides.

"A troll, Dean?" she questioned, tone cold, "Really?!"

Dean looked to his brother before turning his attention back to Ana, he simply shrugged, "What? When you wake up, with your wild red hair everywhere you kind of look like one of those little troll dolls with the crazy colored hair."

She shook her head at him and rolled her eyes before turning to look at Castiel, "What'd you find out?" she asked as she moved to sit down, taking the cup of coffee Sam handed her.

Castiel looked at the three humans sitting at the table and sighed, "It's not good, but it could be worse." he began, "The ritual is called Concordia, its Latin for unity, which in essence is what it does. Unifying Heaven, Hell, and Earth."

"Cas, cut to the chase, why is Ana the sacrifice?" Dean told him.

The angel stood in place a moment, giving Dean a strange look before he spoke, "The ritual itself calls for many ingredients, some of which are hard to come by so hopefully that will buy us some time. The blood sacrifice is very specific, the person used must be a descendant of a witch who survived death and the direct offspring of a true vessel of an archangel."

Dean's eyes went wide, he now understood why his friend was looking at him the way he was. When he looked at Sam and Ana, they both looked confused. He cast his eyes down, hoping that they wouldn't ask too many questions, but part of him knew it was going to happen.

"A descendant of a witch who survived death?" Ana questioned, not noticing Dean at all as she thought about her family. "I don't recall any stories of anyone in my family being witches."

Castiel turned his attention to her, "During the period of the Salem witch trials, there was a powerful witch by the name of Sarah Good. Among the other women and men who were hung unjustifiedly, Sarah Good was convicted and sent to be hung for her crime. Being the powerful witch that she was, she made a life like duplicate of herself and wasn't actually executed." he explained.

"So this Sarah Good, is…"

"A very distant great grandmother on your mother's side." Castiel told her. "She left Salem the night it is recorded that she died, moved to the Province of New Hampshire. She married a man there and soon had a daughter. I made sure that the information I received was correct."

Sam cleared his throat, "So if her mother is her relation to the witch, then that means that her father is the true vessel of an archangel." he glanced at Dean, remembering their time dealing with Michael and Lucifier, "Do you know which archangel?"

Castiel glanced at Dean before turning his attention back to Sam, knowing that what he was about to say wasn't going to be pleasant for any of them, "That's another thing that the ritual is very specific about. The man has to be a true vessel of the oldest of the archangels."

At the information Sam's eyes went wide, "Michael."

The name drew Ana's attention out of her clouded thoughts thinking about being related to a witch and her eyes landed on Dean, "The true vessel of Michael." she almost whispered. Anyone with Winchester blood could be Michael's vessel, she knew that, she had watched their brother Adam's body house the angel, but Dean was the true vessel. Before she said anything more she was thrown into a vision with a force she hadn't experienced with the others.

 _The first thing she noticed was a familiar black Impala, a young Dean behind the wheel with a young blonde girl sitting in the passenger seat. It was her mother, she looked so similar to the last vision she had of her that there was no question about it. She watched as they laughed about something before the look on Dean's face turned serious._

" _Steph, you know I don't want to go." He told her, the look in his eyes pleading her to understand._

 _Her mother, Stephanie, nodded, "I know, but I also know you can't let your family go on without you."_

 _The look in his eyes saddened, "Technically you're family now too." he said, glancing down at her flat stomach._

" _You said it yourself, we don't know each other that well and whatever your family does is dangerous." She gave him a soft smile, "We'll be okay and if you decide one day you want to meet her, I won't keep her from you."_

 _Dean laughed, but it wasn't a happy sound, "What if she is actually a he?" he questioned._

 _Stephanie grinned, "For as far back as my mother can remember we've only ever had girls in the family." she told him._

" _It will be better for her if I don't come around." He said, "I don't want her to be in danger."_

The vision was suddenly gone, she noticed that Sam was crouched by her side giving her a worried looked. She felt a tear slide down her cheek as she raised her eyes to look at Dean who was still sitting across the table from her, "You knew." she bit out, standing out of her chair quickly, "You knew and you left!" she yelled.

Dean dropped his head into his hands, "What exactly did you see?"

Ana bit back a whimper as the pain of this new information hit her, she had always assumed her father didn't know about her, not that he knew and stayed out of her life. "You were talking to my mom in the Impala. You were talking about me."

"She had told me a couple days before that she was pregnant. We hadn't been dating and you just… happened." he sighed, "I had told her before hand that I wouldn't be in town long, that my family traveled a lot and we would probably be gone within a week or two. When she told me, she said that she didn't expect me to stay around. I didn't tell her anything about what we actually did, but I told her that it was really dangerous and any child that I raised would be in that danger too." He looked up at her and stood, "Steph, she understood. God, she was the most accepting person I have ever met and she didn't seem to hold it against me at all when I told her I wouldn't be coming back."

Ana listened quietly to his story, but it only fueled her hurt and anger, "How could you leave her? She was an eighteen year old bringing your child into this world and you left her alone!" she snapped, "So much for your dedication to your family, Dean!"

"I left for you!" He snapped back, hurt in his eyes, he never wanted to have this conversation, "I didn't want this life for you, the constant fear of what's out there, and I didn't want to put your mother in danger either! I knew you would be better off without me! You would be safer if you never knew who I was!"

"And look where that got me." she growled between gritted teeth. "I can't do this, I'm leaving." she quickly turned to leave the room, but was stopped by a strong hand. When she looked up, she was about to snap at Dean again but she realized it was Sam.

"You can't leave the bunker, Ana." He told her softly, "It's not safe."

She gave a curt nod, "I know, I wasn't planning on leaving the bunker, just the room." she assured him as she glanced over his shoulder at Dean who just stood, watching them.

Sam let her go, waiting for her to be a ways down the hall before he turned to look at his brother, "This is why you've been acting so weird. Why you tried to push her to go back to Montana." he was beginning to put the pieces together, "When did you figure it out? When you were looking her up on our way to Jody's?"

Dean nodded, sitting back in his chair with a look of utter defeat.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Castiel asked, sounding hurt. He didn't understand why this was something Dean would keep to himself or why he wouldn't have told Ana after they had met.

He rubbed his hands over his face then looked up at Castiel, "Leaving like that, knowing that Stephanie was pregnant with my child, was one of the hardest things I've ever done." he said, before he turned his eyes to his brother, "Through all of the crap we've been through, losing Dad, Jo and Ellen, Bobby… through all of that, one of the only things keeping me going was knowing that I had done the right thing by keeping that child out of this and keeping them safe."

"She has a point, Dean, look where that got both of you." Sam sat down next to his brother, "I understand why you did it, but you know what being part of this family is like. Bad is bound to happen."

"You should have told us when we found out she was going to be sacrificed, it could have saved a lot of time." Castiel pointed out.

Sam scoffed, "Hell, you should have told me years ago or at least when we met her at Jody's. It explains why she's been having visions about us, though we still don't know why she's having visions in the first place.

Dean shrugged, "Some people are just psychic."

"That's not the case with Ana. It's her relation to the witch, Sarah Good. I found out that she was a natural witch, there was no deal with a demon, no one taught her, she just figured it out. Because she was so powerful, part of the power has been passed down through certain generations of her family. It's also the reason that all of the children of the line are female, she did a ritual to ensure that." Castiel explained as he moved to join the brothers at the table.

Silence fell as Dean and Sam processed the information. All Dean could think about the hurt look in Ana's eyes before she left the room. He had never meant to have any children, especially not at that age, but he hated knowing that to keep her safe he had to leave her. Family was family and Dean Winchester didn't leave family behind.

"She hates me." He broke the silence, not speaking to anyone in particular.

Sam shook his head, "I don't think she hates you. She's hurt and probably confused, give her some time to herself.

-A-

When Ana reached her room she closed the door quickly behind her before she completely fell apart. She let the pain that she had kept at bay in the library slip in and take over, her body shook as she sobbed. Her legs gave out underneath her before she could make it to her bed, so she curled up on the floor, covering her face with her hands as she cried.

It was a long few minutes before the sobs slowly turned to whimpers and the tears quit flowing from her eyes, but she didn't move from where she was on the floor. Between the lack of sleep and the exhaustion that crying like she had been brought on, she was zoned out so much that it took her a while to realize that she'd given herself hiccups. They weren't hard to ignore with the state of shock her mind was now in, the hurt was still there, but her brain was working overtime to try and process everything she had learned in the short amount of time she had been in the library. Trying to process it all quickly became too her and her body shut down, falling asleep on the floor.

-A-

Hours had passed and Ana hadn't come out of her room causing both Sam and Dean to start worrying. "That's it, I'm going to check on her." Dean said, pushing himself away from the table, "I don't care how mad she is, she still needs to eat something." he grumbled as he quickly made his way out of the room.

Sam put down the book he had in his hands and looked at Cas, they had finally found the books that referenced the ritual and they had been reading up on it since Ana had left the room. "You think he realizes he's already acting like a father?" he asked.

The angel smiled and shook his head, "But I'm sure if you brought it up, he would deny it."

Dean stared at her door before knocking, "Ana?" he slowly pushed the door open, "Look, I know you're mad, but you've got…." he paused, seeing her on the floor. Panic quickly filled him as he moved to her side, "Ana!" he rolled her over on to her back, looking her over. She pushed his hands away in her sleep and he realized that she wasn't hurt, just passed out. He let out a sigh of relief and then frowned at the dark mark that was slowly turning greenish on her neck, "At least it's healing." he muttered to himself.

"Come on, Ana, sleeping on the floor will make you sore." he said, shaking her slightly. The girl grumbled something he didn't understand. He shook his head and moved his arms underneath her, easily lifting her off of the floor and caring her the short distance to her bed. Kneeling next to her head, he grabbed her blanket and covered her with them, "I'm so sorry, kid. I never wanted this life for you." he whispered, brushing a soft hand over her hair before he stood and walked toward the door.

"Dean?" she opened her eyes a little, not fully awake.

"Yeah?" he stopped, turning around to look at her.

There was a pause as if she hadn't heard him, but then she snuggled into her pillow and muttered, "You owe me eighteen years worth of birthday presents."

Dean chuckled softly, realizing that she was talking in her sleep, "I'll work on it." he told her, before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

 _So that happened! I was really hoping that this new plot twist wouldn't be obvious from the beginning, so please leave reviews! I would love to know what you think about this, good or bad!_

 _Thanks for reading. :)_


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Hey everyone! Quick shoot out to 19irene96 and canadduh for the reviews, I'm so glad you're enjoying the story so far! Thanks to those of you who have favorited and followed recently. The traffic I'm getting with this story makes me want to write quicker for you guys! Couple of warnings: language is bit more graphic in this chapter and there's talk of depression and self medication. I obviously do not own Supernatural or any of it's characters. I would love more reviews, let me know what you think! Please enjoy!_

Ana had woken up after sleeping for most of the day and though the rest made her feel a little better, her emotions were still raw. It was hard to discern between everything she was feeling; she was hurt, that much was obvious, but there was something there that she couldn't remember having ever felt before. As she tried to figure it out, she didn't move from her bed, just laid where Dean had put her and stared at the wall across the room.

Since she was young, Ana had to understand what was going on inside of not just her mind, but her body. It wasn't hard to realize that she felt things stronger than most people, her emotions were so strong that they affected her entire being and as she gained a better understanding of the workings of her own mind, it quickly became easier to notice it in others. Her ability to empathise with the people around her was incredible to say the least and it was a source of pride for her. So when she only grew frustrated when she couldn't figure out what exactly it was she was feeling she pulled out her phone, calling the only person she wanted to talk to.

"Ana!" Luke sounded relieved, "You've been gone for almost a week, I was starting to worry."

"Sorry, I've been distracted." She halfheartedly apologize, her throat was raw from her fit of crying before and it made her sound as if she had a cold.

There was a pause on the other end of the line, "Are you okay? You don't sound so good."

She sighed, "I honestly don't know what I am right now, that's why I called. I need to figure this out."

"What happened?"

"I.. uh…." she trailed off, she knew there were things she shouldn't tell him about the current situation she was in, so she settled for the one problem that was safe enough to discuss, "I found my father."

"Your father?" Luke asked, shocked, "How was it? I mean… is this a good thing or a bad thing. If he's a scumbag or something just say good riddance and come home."

Ana smiled weakly, Dean was many of things, but a scumbag wasn't one of them, "No. He's nothing like that." she assured him, "Honestly he's a pretty good guy, he does a lot of good with his job."

She heard him sigh, "I always worried about how finding him would affect you, but I'm glad he's a good guy. Are you staying with him?"

"Uh, yeah. There's some… family stuff that we're taking care of with the help of his brother." she explained.

"Are you sure you're okay with all of this? Ana, you sound like you've gone numb." He pried, "The last time you did that was… scary."

She remembered the time he was talking about clearly, she knew why he thought it was scary then and why it was just as scary now, "I'm okay. Not numb, there's just a lot that I'm feeling. He…" she sighed, "You know how Heather told me that my mom got pregnant and then didn't have a way to contact my father to tell him?"

"Yeah."

"Well, turns out that he did know, she told him before he left town, but he thought I would be better off without him and he wanted to protect me, even if that meant staying away."

"Protect you from what, Ana?" Luke now sounded more worried, "If he needed to protect you from something, maybe he's not that great of a guy."

There was a soft rapping at her door, "Hey, Luke, I've got to go. Don't worry about me alright? I'm safe."

"Ana, wait…"

"Hey, Ana, you awake?" She heard Sam call to her from the other side of the door, "We ordered pizza for dinner."

"I'll call you to check in again, do not freak out and go worrying Heather." Ana told Luke, "Bye." she hung up and threw the blankets off of herself. "Yeah, I'm up. Come in." she answered sam as she sat up.

Sam opened the door slowly and walked into her room. He grabbed the desk chair and moved it so it was facing the bed, "How are you holding up?" he asked as he sat down, noticing that her eyes were red and puffy.

She shrugged a shoulder, "I'm just trying to let it all sink in still. I never thought that I would ever meet my father and then have him be one of the men that I've been having visions about is kind of a lot to take in. Don't even get me started on the being part witch and a human sacrifice." she swung her legs off of the bed so she was facing him.

"Yeah, I can only imagine." He felt bad for the girl… his niece, she was his family, "I know we haven't known each other long at all, but if you need to talk to someone you can talk to me. Or I'm sure Cas would listen too, he's pretty good at giving an odd outside perspective."

Ana smiled softly, "Thanks, Sam. I think I just need to give it some time for now."

"Time and food, you haven't eaten anything today and the pizza should be here soon." He stood and put the chair back in its place, "Think you can be in the same room as Dean without killing him?"

"Just keep anything sharp out of sight and I think we'll be safe." She joked, hoping to lighten her own mood as well as his. She could tell that this new information was a lot for even him to take in.

He smiled and shook his head, "Come on." gesturing for her to follow him he walked out of the door. Groaning, she jumped up and followed, knowing that she really did need to eat something even if she didn't feel hungry.

They walked down the hall in a comfortable silence, the closer they got to the library the easier it was the smell the pizza that had arrived moment before. Just as they entered the room Ana's stomach growled, the smell of food causing her to realize how hungry she actually was.

Dean had paused, looking up from an open box that he was grabbing food out of and raising an eyebrow at her, "I figured you would be pretty hungry, I ordered more than we normally do." he commented, studying her red eyes a moment and then continued what he was doing.

She nodded as she made her way to the table, "What kind is there?" she asked, averting her gaze from him, afraid that she would either break down again, start yelling, or try to kill him; all of which she wanted to avoid.

"Meat lovers, pepperoni, and Hawaiian." Dean slid the paper plates across the table to her and Sam.

"I love Hawaiian!" she grabbed a plate and opened the boxes until she found the one she was looking for. Grinning, she put a couple of slices on her plate and sat down, "Whoever thought it would be a good idea to put pineapple on a pizza was a freaking genius."

Dean made a disgusted face, "No one should put fruit on pizza." he argued, "The only things that should be allowed on pizza are the sauce, cheese, and meat."

"Dude, you really need to start eating things other than meat and pie." Sam chided his older brother, grabbing himself a piece of the Hawaiian and setting it on his place. "Hey, I'm going to grab drinks, what do you guys want?"

"Beer." "Liquor." Dean and Ana spoke at the same time, the latter asking for the harder alcohol.

The brothers each raised an eyebrow at her, "One beer and a soda, got it." Sam said, turning quickly to leave for the kitchen.

When Sam was out of the room, Dean looked across the table at his daughter, "Ana," he waited for her to meet his gaze, but when she didn't he let out a sigh, "Ana, look at me." when her eyes met his he frowned, they were so puffy, "We need to talk about this."

She nodded, red hair bobbing, "I know, but I can't… not now." her eyes dropped again, she wasn't ready to confront him about anything, she still had too much to figure out before she could have a conversation with him that wouldn't end in yelling.

"Alright." He didn't want to push her, the last thing he needed was to do or say something stupid and her want to leave because of it. There was no doubt in his mind that the moment she was out of the bunker and away from them that demons would be on top of her. "We should really look into getting you the anti-possession tattoo." he commented, remembering the vision she had about going black eyed. There were only so many things he could be certain he could protect her from and getting possessed was one of those things.

"So Ana," Sam spoke as he came back into the room, two beer bottles in one hand and a soda can in the other, "We made some headway with the ritual and we actually found some stuff about your family in here." he gestured to the stack of books at the other end of the table as he sat the can down in front of her. He glanced at Dean, realizing that they were her family too, "Your mother's side of the family." he clarified.

She gave him a confused look, "Why would there be information about my family here?" the Men of Letters had been around for a very long time, she knew that, but it didn't make sense to her that there would be anything in here on any part of her family other than Sarah Good.

"Turns out that during the Salem witch trials the Men of Letters quickly took action when they realized that most of the people being executed were innocent." Sam explained, "They figured out what Sarah had done to avoid her own death and tracked her down, she had been dangerous in the months that led up to her trial, which was how she got caught in the first place. When they tracked her to New Hampshire she tried to kill them with hexes, but they were warded against them and they killed her. Leaving behind her infant daughter, Elizabeth." he paused to eat and let her think on just that part of the information.

"Okay, I can understand why that's documented, but it can't take that many books to cover information on one witch." She gestured to the stack that was five thick books high.

Dean cleared his throat, "The power that is passed down through the bloodline, the power that gave you your visions, has affected different women in your family in different ways. Cas said it skipped generations, which it does, the last documented Good descendent with powers was your great grandmother. She was a telekinetic, but before her there were more."

"Though Sarah passed along her power, she didn't pass along the evil that she had tainted it with. Most of the women either used their powers to help others or just to protect themselves and their family." Sam pointed out, he read about some of the things Sarah Good had done and he wanted to make it very clear to his niece that even though she shared blood with the dark witch, it didn't mean that she was going to go dark too.

" _Most_ of the women?" She questioned, curious, "What about the others?"

Dean wiped his hands off on a napkin, "There was a great aunt of yours a few generations back that went full blown wicked witch. You don't want the details on that one, trust me. Elizabeth didn't get any powers, but her second daughter could astral project and when she was older she began to use that to take over other people's bodies. Kicking their souls to the curb, using their body for however long, then going back to her own and leaving the bodies to rot."

Ana cringed at the verbal picture he had just painted her, "So, some of the family were actual witches and others just gained specific powers?" she questioned, thinking that maybe she got the good pick between the two.

Sam nodded, swallowing the food in his mouth before he spoke, "There were only three women who actually became full blown witches, the rest just had random powers…. _Ow!"_ he jerked his head to the side to look at Dean, who had kicked him under the table, "Dude, what the hell was that for?" he snapped.

"Tell her everything." Dean gave his baby brother a long look, "No use in hiding anything else from her."

Ana raised an eyebrow, "Sam?" she questioned, wondering what it was that he didn't want to tell her.

He glared at Dean before looking back at Ana and sighing, "Each witch, before they grew into their full abilities, started out having visions."

"So…" her brow furrowed, "So what we're saying here is that I'm either just psychic or I could be headed on my way to a pointy black hat?"

"Bout sums it up, kiddo." Dean nodded before taking a long drink of his beer, "There were signs before each woman's power began to grow, so we'll know if it's going to happen before it does."

"And if it does?" she questioned, looking back and forth between the men in front of her, "I go wicked witch of the west and you two have to put me down?"

Sam shook his head and leaned closer to her, fixing his warm brown eyes on her, "Only one of the three witches went bad. The most recent witch was actually an extraordinary healer, she only used her powers to heal the wounded."

Ana groaned and leaned back in her chair, using her fingertips to rub circles on her temples, "Okay, so I may or may not be a witch, but I am a psychic and some God damn sacrifice that's going to ruin the world as we know it." she stood up quickly, "Fucking great."

"Language." Dean warned her, in the moment reminding himself of his own father.

"Excuse me?" She spun on her heel and glared at him, "Did you not just hear the words that came out of my mouth? Witch, psychic, fucking human sacrifice. I think if there's a time for me to be freaking out and using foul language, now would be that time, _dad._ " she snapped the last word out with a sarcastic bite.

"Ana-"

She shook her head, "No, Dean. I can't take any more of this right now. There's only so much a girl can take before she starts to lose it." she interrupted him, turning and walking out of the room.

"Where are you going?!" he snapped, "Don't-"

"Leave the bunker! I know!" she yelled over her shoulder, picking up her pace just wanting to escape into her room. Slamming the door closed behind her, she crossed the short distance to her bed and threw herself down on it with a groan. She felt like her brain was going to explode at any moment, there was just too much to comprehend in such a short period of time and it was too much.

Dean pushed his plate away and let his head fall on top of the table, "How in the world am I supposed to try to take care of a daughter who is already grown?" he growled, "Though I'm not sure how much being an adult is doing for her, those tantrums are pretty spot on with a five year old."

"How would you know what a five year old does during a tantrum?" Sam asked, not hiding his amused grin.

Dean cocked his head to the side slightly to shoot Sam a look before letting it roll back so his forehead was flat and the cool wood, "You threw the worst tantrums when you were five."

Sam just laughed, "Well I guess I just made you more prepared for this." he commented, thinking about Dean's question, "I don't think you're supposed to take care of her, Dean. I mean, have you seen how she acts? Looks to me like she's been mentally grown for a couple of years now." he sighed, taking a drink from the bottle in his hand, "Maybe you're just supposed to be there for her when she needs you. Teach her how to defend herself, how to work on cars, how to clean a gun."

"She already knows how to do that." Dean sat up again, "Came out here in the middle of the night to see her sitting here with the pistol she used at the bar pulled apart and cleaned." he smiled weakly, "Honestly, it kind of made me feel proud."

Sam smiled at that, "Just give it some time. Eventually you'll both figure out what kind of relationship is going to work between you too." he paused, knowing that what he was about to say would be pressing really close to emotions Dean didn't like to think about, "She hasn't had much family in her life, I don't think she's just going to leave once it's safe. It's better to have family you're mad at than no family at all."

Dean nodded solemnly in agreement, he wasn't sure if he wanted for her to stick around after they dealt with this ritual business. She could leave and have a normal life, well as normal as it got for a psychic/ possible witch. He just wanted the same things for her that he had wanted when Steph had told him she was pregnant; he wanted her to be safe and happy.

Ana could only lay on her bed for so long before she sat up and looked around the room, she was going to lose her mind completely if she didn't find a way to distract herself and blow off some steam. She thought for a few minutes, thinking that she wasn't going to find anything to satisfy both needs, then her eyes landed on the pistol on her desk. A wide grin spread across her face, that was exactly what she needed.

Jumping off of her bed quickly, she grabbed the pistol, pocketed her iPod, then hurried out of her room and down the hall, pausing for a moment in the entrance to the library where Sam and Dean both sat, "Hey, are there bullets in the shooting range or do you guys keep them somewhere else?" she questioned.

The brothers glanced at each other and then at the gun in her hand, "Depends, who are you shooting?" Dean asked with a cheeky grin.

"Paper, Dean, I haven't decided to go on a rampage or anything." She assured him, "So bullets, where can I find them?"

"Uh, there are some in the shooting range along with ear protection, glasses, and targets." Sam told her, "You know what you're doing, right?" he questioned, wondering if he should go with her.

Dean patted his brother's shoulder, "She knows what she's doing." he looked at Ana, "Just clean up the brass when your done? We can reload that."

She nodded, "Aye aye, captain." she gave him a mock salute before turning and heading toward the shooting range which was close to the garage. When she walked into the room, she closed the door behind her and set the pistol down at one of the four lanes that the room held. It wasn't hard to find the ammo, glasses, and ear protection, there was a large cabinet that was full of all sorts of goodies. It was stocked with boxes of ammo in an array of calibers, there was a row of glasses on one shelf, plastic ear muffs hung on one of the doors, then near the bottom there was a stack of targets.

Ana grabbed one of the tall rolling carts that was near the cabinet, setting a stack of targets on it and a couple of boxes of ammo. She grabbed a pair of clear glasses, placing them on top of her head, then grabbed the earmuffs and placed them around her neck. Once the cart was placed next to her lane, she glanced toward a large safe that was across the room that she assumed was filled with different guns, she'd have to check it out later. Right now she just really wanted to feel the recoil from the pistol shake through her arms.

Dropping the magazine out of the pistol, she turned to the cart and loaded it before slamming it back into the gun with a grin. She reached for the switch on the wall next to her pushing it up, there was a soft hum as the clip that held the target up moved toward her. With the target in place she sent it back down range, but not too far, she wanted to work on her aim and new that it made the most sense to slowly work herself up to a longer distance. Pulling her iPod out of her pocket, she placed her headphones in her ears and set the music on shuffle, turning it up loud. She glanced at the earmuffs, deciding that she would be okay without them with how loud the music was. With a slight shrug, she placed the clear glasses over her eyes, having learned her lesson her first time shooting when a casing came flying out of the gun and hit her just below the eye.

Picking the pistol back up, she pulled the slide back, loading a round into the chamber and then released it. She took a moment to make sure her stance was right before she took her aim and, after letting out a deep breath, she pulled the trigger back. Lowering the gun slightly, she looked at her target and noticed that her aim wasn't that bad at this distance. Firing off the rest of the bullets in the magazine, she couldn't help but grin. It was empowering to know she had the capability to protect herself, now she just needed to start learning how to defend herself with different weapons or without a weapon at all. She knew how dangerous the life she was diving into was and her basic self defense moves wouldn't stand a chance at some of the things the Winchesters came across.

Time flew by as she continued to work on her aim. She would load the magazine, send a target down range and fire at it until her groupings were close enough to the center for her liking. Then she'd bring the target back toward her, switch it out with a clean one, reload, send the target back down range and start the whole process over again.

Ana hadn't realized what time it was until Sam tapped her shoulder as she set the gun down to reload. She jumped slightly and pulled her headphones out, "Hey, Sam." she gave him a soft smile as she started to load the magazine.

"Hey, how's it going?" He asked, looking down range at the target that was about halfway between where they were standing at the back wall.

"Well, this is going to be the third time I'm going to be trying at this distance and I'm slowly getting closer to the center." she jerked her elbow toward the stack of targets she already used, "Slowly, but surrely." she mumbled

He nodded, "Want me to give you some pointers?" grabbing the used target that was on top of its pile and then looked at the one she was bringing back toward them, "Your groupings are getting closer together, that's good." he commented.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind the help." she switched out targets and handed him the used one, "You want earmuffs?" she asked, grabbing the pair she decided not to use earlier.

Sam laughed softly, "Nah, doesn't really bother me anymore. You should wear them though, you won't be able to hear me correct you if you're listening to music."

"Good point." turning off her music, she set her iPod and headphones on the cart then placed the earmuffs on, glancing at Sam.

He nodded, "Whenever you're ready." he reached for the switch and sent the target back down range as she slid the magazine back into the pistol.

Ana fired the first three shots and then lowered the gun to look at her target, her grouping was still pretty wide. "Okay, first of all, relax your shoulders, you're tensing up there." Sam told her, "Everything else about your stance is spot on. Are you aiming with one eye closed?" She nodded, "Don't. I know that's how most people are taught, but if you're in a dangerous spot, you don't want to miss some coming at you because you had one eye closed." She nodded again, making sure to keep both eyes open and she fired the last four shots. "Look, you're already getting closer to the center." he smiled at her as he brought the target back toward them.

As they looked over the target Ana smiled and took the earmuffs off, "Thanks." she told him, hoping that with a little more work she would be hitting the center or close to every time at this distance.

"No problem." Sam assured her as he set the target down on the rest of the used ones, "It's getting kind of late, Dean already called it a night and I'm headed that way. You gonna be up for a while?" he figured she would be because of how long she had slept after Cas' news.

"Uhh… yeah. I'll probably be up for a while. Think I'm going to call it quits in here for the day though." She told him, looking around at the shell casing that were on the floor that needed to be cleaned up.

He nodded, "Probably a good idea. There's a broom against the other side of the gun case, you can just sweep all of this up and drop it into the plastic tub that's on the table against the wall." he instructed before heading for the door.

"Hey Sam," she stopped him and watched as he turned to face her before she spoke again, "Is... How is Dean doing with all of this?"

He stared at her a moment then walked back over to where she was standing, "He's had a bit more time to think about it than you have. I think he's confused about what to do, but he's okay. Why?"

Ana shrugged, "Just curious." She avoided looking into his eyes as she crossed the room to grab the broom. "I'll get all of this cleaned up."

"You can leave the stuff on the cart, we'll keep working on your aim." He said, still thinking about her question. "Well, good night." He told her awkwardly as he walked out of the room.

-A-

Dean had been looking forward to a full night sleep when he had laid down in bed and was thankful that he'd spent most of the day with his nose in books, reading up on the ritual and the Good line. So when a loud crash and thud echoed down the hall, waking him up, he scowled. It wasn't until the noise was followed by a delayed _"Ow! Shit!"_ that he was moving quickly out of his room, the pistol he kept next to his bed in hand.

"Ow ow ow." He could hear Ana whining and jogged the rest of the way to the library, his weapon raised in case of a threat. When he walked into the dim lit room, he paused to see the young redhead sitting on top of the large table, one hand cradling her head and the other holding her foot up to her face. Dean flicked on the rest of the lights, causing Ana to blink rapidly and then cover her eyes.

"Ana, what the hell?" He questioned, lowering the gun as he realized there was no intruder. As he walked closer to the table he noticed the wide gash on her forehead, the glass scattered across the table, and the chunk of it that was sticking out of her foot. "What were you doing?" He raised his voice.

"Shhhhhhh!" She scolded him, "You'll wake up Sammy."

"Dean? What's going on?" Sam's voice came from hallway before he entered the room.

Ana rolled her eyes, " _See_... told ya." Her words slurred a bit as she glanced around Dean to see Sam walking over to them.

"Are you drunk?" Dean demanded, bending to her eye level, noticing how bloodshot her green eyes were.

"What?" She shook her head, "No!"

Dean looked at the glass on the table, recognizing parts of the label off the bottle of whiskey, then noticed the lack of any liquid any where. "Right, because the whiskey that was in the bottle you dropped evaporated." He growled sarcastically, he glanced at his brother, "Go get the first aid kit."

Sam nodded and quickly left the room, not wanting to get involved in the argument he knew was about to ensue.

"What happened?" Dean asked as he looked at her forehead.

Ana sighed dramatically, "I was just having a good time when the freaking light fixture attacked me and caused me to drop the bottle in my hand."

"It attacked you?" He raised an eyebrow at him, "Why were you standing on the table in the first place?"

Sam walked back into the room with the large plastic box that held all of their medical supplies. Setting it on the table next to Ana, he opened it up and began to grab the things they would need out. He poured some rubbing alcohol on a gauze pad and handed it to Dean.

"Hey, I've got this. Go back to bed." Dean told his brother as he pushed Ana's hand away from her head so he could clean the wide split in her forehead that was just above her left eyebrow.

The younger Winchester shrugged and turned to leave again, "Night night, Sammy!" Ana called after him, hissing quickly after as Dean cleaned her wound.

"Answer my question, why were you on the table?" He brushed her hair away from her face so he could get a better look at it.

"I was listening to music on my phone when a really good song came on and I had to dance. So I stood up and did." She answered, wincing as he ran the gauze in his hand over her cut one more time.

He scoffed, shaking his head as he dropped the gauze on the table and grabbed the butterfly bandages Sam had set out. Making sure that her head was all taken care of, he grabbed a chair and sat down to take a look at her foot, "So you wanna talk about why you drank the rest of my whiskey?" He glanced up at her.

"Helps numb everything, ya know?" She shrugged, "I'm not supposed ta go numb again, but was the only thing to fix it."

He raised an eyebrow at her, "Why aren't you supposed to feel numb?" He asked as he grabbed the materials he would need to fix her foot.

"Scares people. Heather... Luke... they worry." She looked down at her hands, the slightly sober part of herself knew she didn't want to talk about it, but the alcohol had left her without a filter.

"You being drunk scares people?" He asked, hoping he could keep her distracted until he got the glass out of her foot. There was a thick, big jagged piece and then a few smaller bits around it logged into her skin.

She shook her head, her lips forming a soft pout, "Last time was pills."

"Pills?" His hands stopped moving and he looked back up at her, his chest tightening in a weird way at the thought of her taking drugs.

"Mmmm." She nodded slightly, "First was some left over high grade painkillers, they were left over from my surgery, then when those were gone 't was four or five cold pills at a time, the kind that make you sleepy."

"Why?" He took the tweezers off of the table and began to take out the small pieces of glass, dropping them on to the gauze he used on her forehead.

She lifted her head up and looked at the ceiling, taking a moment to try and find the right words in the jumbled mess of her intoxicated brain, "I.. I was depressed. Felt like I had no one. Dead mom, no dad, felt like a burden on Heather and then there was the shit show with Luke." She sighed and looked down into Dean's bright green eyes. "I just wanted to sleep forever. Was better than being in the real world."

He watched her a moment before he continued his work on her foot, "When was that?"

"Almost two years ago." She sighed heavily, "I've been careful since, but... there's just too much here," she pointed to her chest, "That I don't understand."

Dean grabbed a clean gauze pad and quickly pulled the large chunk of glass out of her foot, pushing the pad hard against the open wound to slow the bleeding, "You're hurt." He commented, not taking his eyes away from his hands, knowing that he was the reason she was hurt.

"Hurt I understand, been hurt before... but..." she scrunched up her face, thinking hard, "There was an empty space, like a black hole, sucking up all of the good feelings and leaving the bad. Then found out you were my dad and it felt different, like... like part of it wasn't so empty, but filled with confusion and... and disappointment."

Dean visibly shrunk at her words, she was disappointed to have him as a father.

She closed her eyes, "All I could think was how could someone so... good want a daughter who is so screwed up." She shook her head, "Why would someone like you take on a burden like me."

As her words processed in his mind, he looked up at her. She wasn't disappointed in him, she was disappointed with herself. "You're not a burden, Ana." His voice was barely above a whisper.

"I brought a whole mess of trouble into your life, I'm another person for you to have to look out for when you shouldn't have to." Her shoulders slumped, "I'm just a giant screw up on everyone who becomes a part of my life."

He stood up, keeping the pressure on her foot with one hand, he raised her chin with the other so she had to look him in the eye, "Anastasia Marie, you are not a burden and you never will be. Not to me. Are we clear?" He didn't raise his voice, but it was stern, he wanted to get the message across clearly. When she just stared at him he clenched his jaw, "Are. We. Clear?" He repeated.

She nodded, "We're clear." There was no arguing with that tone or the look in his eyes. "Wait... How did you know my middle name?"

He sat back down to check on her foot, "That night in the Impala, Stephanie told me she was going to make sure a part of me stuck with you. She said she was going to make your middle name Marie. My mom's name was Mary, her mother's name was Carrie, so she combined them." He explained, "I honestly didn't think she would do it after I left, but then I saw it when I was looking through your documentation before we met at Jody's."

The story made Ana smile, "It's kind of nice knowing that. Feels like both of my grandmother's are with me even if I didn't get to meet either of them."

Dean looked at her foot, "I'm going to have to stitch this up, think you can hold still while I do it? I don't have anything to numb it with."

She shrugged, "Can't really feel it anyway." Pausing a minute, she watched him get the stuff out of the kit to stitch her foot, "Hey Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"Think you'll ever love me?" She questioned as she rubbed sleepily at one of her eyes.

The words made him stop. He took a deep breath and looked up at her, "Kid, I have loved you since the moment I found out." He assured her, "You may have been unexpected and a giant surprise, but if I didn't love you as much as I do, I wouldn't have been able to leave."

"At first I was so blinded by the fact that you had left that I didn't think about what was going through your head when you did." She looked away as he began to push needle through skin, "But after everything I've seen you and Sam go through, I can understand why you did it. Respect it even. Doesn't make it hurt any less."she paused, "You know, when I was younger I would think a lot about what it would be like to meet you one day. I always thought you just didn't know that I was even alive and that shaped how I thought us meeting would go. Knowing that you knew and still left hurt so bad, all I could think about was being abandoned. But I get it." she looked down at him, "Just gonna take a little time for the hurt to go away."

As she rambled, Dean made a quick job of stitching her foot and when the wound was closed he placed a large bandage over it. "I think I can give you that time," he paused, looking up into green eyes that almost mirrored his own, "as long as you stay out of my whiskey."

Ana smiled, "I'm not making any promises, but I highly doubt it will happen again." she took a quick look at her foot and then slid off of the table, "Whiskey is gross." she added once on her feet, being careful to not put any pressure on the right one. Looking over her shoulder, she noticed the mess on the table, "I'll clean this all up."

He shook his head, "The only thing you're going to do right now is go to bed and sleep off all the alcohol. We can clean this up in the morning."

"Bedtime." she nodded, the adrenaline of being hurt wearing off and leaving her tired. "Good idea. Thanks for patching me up." she told him with a smile as she walked by his side toward the hall, being careful not to put a lot of pressure on her foot. There was no pain, she was still too drunk for that, but she didn't want to pull on the fresh stitches.

Dean made sure she made it to her room alright, stopping her before she walked through the door, "Next time you feel like you need to numb your feelings, you come to me, alright? We can talk about it. No more self medicating."

She nodded, leaning on the door frame, "Okay. No more numb. Gotcha."

"Go get some sleep, Ana." he told her sternly and watched as she got into bed before closing the door for her.

"Hey Dean!" she called to him as she snuggled under her blanket.

Pushing the door back open a little, he peaked his head in, "Yeah?"

"Good night." she gave him a sleepy smile.

"Night, kid." he watched her close her eyes before he closed the door again and headed to his own room.


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Hello, hello! Thank you for reading! Quick warning: talk of child abuse, it's pretty dark, not very detailed, but it's still there and wanted you all to be prepared. I do not own Supernatural or any of it's characters. Enjoy._

It was nine the next morning when Ana's phone began to ring obnoxiously loud on the small side table next to the bed. She buried herself underneath her pillow, groaning at the sound. When it stopped she sighed happily and was on the verge of going back to sleep when it began to ring again. Swearing to herself, she slapped her hand around on the table until she found it, "What?" She growled at the caller, still hiding under the pillow.

"Don't you 'what' me, Anastasia. It's been days and you haven't called me." Her aunt snapped at her, "Then I hear from Luke of all people that you found your father! Is that what this trip was about? Hunting down that man?"

"Uggghh, Heather, calm down." Ana pleaded, her heartbeat vibrating through her head painfully.

Heather scoffed, "Calm down? I don't even know where you're at, let alone who the man that you've decided is your father is!"

Ana cringed at her aunt's raised voice, "Heather, I'm not just hanging out with some random man twice my age who may or may not be my father. Trust me, Dean is my dad."

There was a short pause, "Dean? Dean Winchester?"

"Yes, Dean Winchester."

"I thought it might have been him, but your mother wouldn't tell anyone." Heather muttered something Ana couldn't hear, then more clearly, "Are you with him now?"

"I..." a knock at the door interrupted her, "Ana, are you alive in there?" Dean called through the door.

"I'm alive." Ana answered, pushing her pillow off of her face.

"Is that him? Give him your phone, I want to talk to him." Heather demanded.

Ana rolled her eyes as Dean opened the door, "I'm not giving him the phone, Heather. You don't need to give him whatever lecture you have in your head."

Dean raised an eyebrow and held his hand out for the phone, "Hand it over." He told her.

"Fine." She groaned, giving him the phone and hiding back underneath her pillow, she didn't feel too good.

"Hello?" There was a brief pause, "Yeah, hi, Heather." He responded awkwardly. Ana peeked out from hiding to see him wince. "Woah, woah..." she heard Heather raise her voice, "Heather shut up! I'm taking care of her, okay? She's safe with me. Just let me get to know my daughter for Christ sake!" He snapped and hung up on her. "That woman has never liked me." He mumbled looking over at Ana, "How are you feeling?"

She just shook her head at him and let the pillow fall back over her head, "I was a complete idiot last night."

Dean chuckled, grabbing her pillow and tossing it across the room, "Can't disagree much there. Come on, time to get up."

"Dean!" She whined, "Just let me sleep!"

He shook his head, "No way, you get to work through your stupid decision with me and some training. You're being targeted by God knows how many demons and unless you want to stay here for the rest of your life, not being able to ever leave, you need to learn to defend yourself." He grabbed the blankets and pulled them back. "You have ten minutes to get up, change clothes and meet me in the library."

"How am I supposed to train with stitches in my foot?" She grumbled at him, sitting up slowly, which she instantly regretted as a wave of nausea hit her.

"I've fought through worse, so has Sam, our dad, and a lot of good hunters we've known over the years." Dean raised an eyebrow at her, "You're a Winchester, power through it." he walked toward the door, leaving her to change, "Nine minutes!" he called over his shoulder as he closed the door.

Ana groaned and rolled her eyes, today was going to suck, there was no doubt about that. Standing out of bed she limped toward her dresser, the pain that had been dulled considerably by whiskey last night was in full effect. Once dressed in clean jeans and a black tank top, she grabbed her boots then limped back over to the bed, if she was going to be training to protect herself might as well do it in clothes she was going to be wearing on a daily basis. Getting her right boot on turned out to be a challenge, the cut that was stitched up on the bottom was long and sat right in the middle. She winced through the pain of moving it, but once she stood on it she was glad to find that the support from the soles made it a little easier to walk; at least she wasn't hobbling like she had been with them off.

She made it into the library with a minute to spare, pausing at the glass that still covered the table. Embarrassment filled her, she'd been an idiot. Drinking what was left in the bottle of whiskey, deciding that the table was a good place to sit and then dance, add that on top of the conversation she had with Dean, specifically the part where she asked if he would ever love her, and she felt like child.

"Right on time." Dean commented, walking up behind her with a broom in his hand, "First part of your training today is cleaning up messes you leave behind." he held the broom out for her.

"This is what you call training? I'm perfectly capable of cleaning up after myself." She shook her head, taking the broom and walking over to the table, "I wasn't aware that you can count cleaning skills as an effective form of protection from demons."

He shrugged, "We'll get there soon enough, for now you clean. Try not to cut yourself again, alright? I'm going to grab a trash can."

"I think I can handle a little glass." she muttered to herself, then thought about what she said a moment, "Well, while not extremely drunk." she corrected as she started sweeping the glass that had already fallen on the floor.

"Hello, Ana." Castiel spoke from where he had appeared suddenly behind her.

She let out a squeak of surprise and jumped, "Damn." she breathed quickly for a moment, heart racing, "You scared the crap out of me."

Dean rounded the corner with the trash can from the kitchen in his hand, "He's pretty good at that." he commented before looking to the angel, "What's going on, Cas?"

"Things have settled down in Heaven for the moment, I wasn't able to find any further information on Barbas' plans though. I thought I would see if you had any leads." Castiel explained, he frowned as he looked at Ana's forehead, "Were you attacked by more demons?"

"Yeah, a demon called Jack Daniels." Dean scoffed, setting the trash can near Ana, "Keep cleaning kid, we have other things to do today." he instructed.

Castiel approached Ana, "Would you like me to heal you? I can heal your physical wounds and take away the effects of the alcohol."

She thought on it a moment, glancing over at Dean who seemed to be waiting for her response, then shook her head, "I think I'm going to count this as a life lesson and just deal with the hangover and the cuts. Thanks though." she told Castiel with a sincere smile.

"Good answer." Dean mumbled. "So, Cas, any idea on how many demons Barbas has got working for him? Ballpark estimate at least?"

Castiel's forehead scrunched in confusion, "What does baseball have to do with the number of demons?"

Ana laughed, she had almost forgotten how much Cas had to learn about humans, "He means do you have an approximate guess." she explained, sweeping the pile of glass on the floor into the dust pan then dumping it in the trash.

He gave Ana a quick nod in thanks then turned to Dean, "Why didn't you say that in the first place? There was no need to bring sports into the conversation."

Dean shook his head, "Do we know what kind of force we're up against or not?" he questioned, sometimes talking to angels was a lot harder than he personally thought it should have been.

Castiel's focused shifted from trying to understand strange human phrases to Dean's question, "He doesn't have nearly the force that Lilith had, but as far as I can tell he's physically as powerful as she was."

"Freaking great." Dean rubbed a hand over his eyes, memories of Lilith surfacing, "Well at least we have a better idea of how to handle it this time."

Ana began to slide the glass that was on the table into the trash can, "Come on, you and Sam stopped the freaking apocalypse, I think we can handle this Barbas guy." She pointed out.

Dean met her eyes with his own, "There is no _we_ in this fight, Ana. You will be taught to protect yourself, but we will not be bringing you with us when we go to gank that bastard."

She rolled her eyes, "Fine, my point still stands. I'm not going to say it's going to be easy, but at least you have a better chance at getting out alive." Her phone began to ring in the pocket of her jeans. With a glance at the screen, she ended the call and put it back in her pocket.

"Heather again?" Dean asked as he looked over the table and floor, making sure that she had gotten all of the glass.

"What? Oh, no." She shook her head, groaning as her phone rang again. "I apparently need to take this." Leaning the broom against the table she grabbed her phone again and walked across the room, "Yeah?" She answered, clearly not happy.

Dean watched her a moment before turning to look at Cas, "You didn't find anything else on the witches in her family?"

"I did find something, though it could just be a coincidence." Castiel sighed, "The only time a woman in her line has had visions is when they are destined to be witches."

"So she's going to eventually be a witch." Dean stated.

"Its a very likely possibility, yes."

Dean sighed, "What am I supposed to do? A hunter with a witch daughter?"

"Damn it, Luke, just shut up and stay out of this!" Ana snapped, interrupting the men's conversation. "I swear to God, if you start pulling the same crap you did when we were dating I'm going kick your ass."

Dean crossed the room, "Ana..."

She held a finger up to him, telling him to wait, "Just leave it alone. I'm done trying to explain this to you. Don't call back if you're going to act like this." Hanging up her phone she brushed her hands through her hair before turning to look at Dean, "Sorry. What?" Anger slowly fading from her voice.

"What was that about. Who is Luke?" He raised an eyebrow at her, she'd mentioned the name a couple of times.

"Luke's my ex boyfriend. Sometimes he forgets that we're not together anymore and thinks he has the right to stick his nose in my business." She explained.

 _Boyfriend._ The word made him cringe on the inside, thinking about his daughter with some punk kid. A kid just like he'd been... a kid who had gotten a girl pregnant too young. "I could put the fear of God into him."

"What?" His words shocked Ana, "No, you're not going to do that, I'm perfectly capable of doing that myself. Plus, how much fear can you put into a person you don't know over the phone?"

"Who said anything about it being over the phone? The full effect only sets in when done in person, something about a sawed-off just gets people worked up." He shrugged nonchalantly.

Ana scoffed, "Sure, Dean, drive all the way to Montana to scare a twenty year old guy for being nosy. That's not crazy at all."

"You dated someone two years older than you?" He snapped the question out.

"Could we not have this conversation? Like ever?" She asked, turning to walk away from him.

Dean grabbed her arm and moved so he was standing in front of her, "Not until you explain to me why you were dating some guy two years older than you." He crossed his arms across his chest, waiting.

"Seriously? I've known you for all of a week, known you are my father for just over twenty-four hours and you're already going to start acting like this?" She questioned, "You do know it's a little late to pull the overprotective dad crap, right?"

"When did you start dating this guy? Was he even in school?"

"What is your deal?" Ana snapped, "You are acting crazy right now."

Castiel walked up to the arguing pair, "He has just learned that you will most likely become a witch and I believe he's trying to avoid his worry over that by placing it somewhere else."

Dean whirled on the angel, "What the hell, Cas?"

"I'm a what?!" She demanded, glaring at her father. "Were you going to tell me or is this another secret you planned on keeping from me?"

"Its not set in stone." Dean sighed turning to her, "The angel of bad timing over here," he gestured to Castiel, "found out that the only women in your mother's family that had visions turned out to be witches. So the possibility is likely."

"Very likely." Cas interjected.

As their words sunk in Ana could feel her heart rate increase and her chest start to tighten, then the sinking feeling in her stomach like she hadn't eaten for days quickly swooped in. She had grown used to the first signs of an anxiety attack, but it didn't make it any easier. It didn't take long for the tremors to start in her hands and it took even less time for them to move up her arms. The only thought forming in her mind was that Dean and Sam's first instinct would to be to kill her.

"Ana?" Dean watched as she paled and began to shake, "Ana, what's wrong?" when it was clear that she wasn't going to respond, he placed firm hand against her back and pushed her toward a chair.

Sam walked into the room shortly after Dean got her in a chair and rushed over, "What happened?" he asked, worried about how pale and sick Ana looked.

"We informed her that she's a witch and this is the reaction it caused." Castiel answered Sam as Dean continued to try to get the girl's attention.

"How do we know she's a witch?" Sam furrowed his brow, he read that it took months, sometimes years for the previous witches to get to their full power from just having visions.

Dean waved his hand in front of Ana's face, "Damn it, Ana!" he was beginning to worry. "We'll explain later," he snapped at Sam, "there's something wrong with her!"

Sam looked between Cas and Dean before turning his attention to the redhead, "She's probably in shock." he commented, looking to Dean, "A lot of things have changed for her in a small period of time." He turned his attention back to his niece, "Ana? Hey, try to calm down." he tried to sooth her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Flashbacks to visions of the two Winchesters killing monsters had taken all of her focus, their few run ins with witches being prominent and repetitive. She hadn't heard a word any of the men said, but when Sam's hand made contact it she jumped and screamed. "No!" she stood up on wobbly legs and tried to hurry out of the room.

"Sit back down." Dean moved quickly to grab her, afraid that she would fall over and hurt herself.

"No!" She screamed again, pushing away his hands, convinced that all he would want to do now was get rid of her. If there was a list of things Dean Winchester hated most in the world somewhere very near the top would be witches. "Don't, please don't hurt me!" she had begun to cry, the anxiety attack growing worse.

The three men looked back and forth between each other before looking back to her, "Ana, we're not going to hurt you. We would never. Why would you think that?" Dean questioned, confusion and hurt setting in.

"I'm a witch." Was all she could get out before she fell over, the attack being too much for her body to handle. She curled into herself on the floor, hiding her face from them as her body trembled, silent tears falling from her eyes.

Sam and Dean moved quickly to her side, "Ana…" Dean was afraid to touch her in case she freaked out again, "Do you remember what we talked about last night?" he questioned, tone soft and calm. The nod he received in answer was almost too small to notice, but he caught it. Sitting down next to her, he tried to see her face, but she kept it hidden, "Remember what you asked me while I was stitching up your foot." another nod, "I have loved you for eighteen years, nothing will change that, especially not something like this." he reached for her head, smiling softly when she didn't pull away from him, "We're not going to let anything happen to you."

Ana slowly looked up at him, letting his words set in and seeing the truth in his eyes. Grabbing tightly on to his hand, she used it to pull herself up against his chest, needing comforting physical contact to calm herself down. When he positioned himself so that she could curl up against him, he let out a relieved sigh.

Sam had stayed back slightly, wanting to be close enough in case something went wrong, but as he watched his brother talk down the frightened girl, he smiled softly. He had always thought that Dean would have made a good dad, even when the man himself didn't and it warmed his heart to know that even if it had been delayed eighteen years he was still able to have that experience.

Silence filled the room as they waited for Ana to calm down, her breathing slowed as the effects of the attack began to slowly wear off, "I'm sorry." she whispered, not moving away from Dean.

"There's nothing to apologize for, kid." He reassured her, his big hand rubbing calming circles on her back.

Sam smiled softly at her, "Just give us the benefit of the doubt next time?" he asked, wanting her to feel as if she could trust them. He received a week nod as an answer. "Can I ask you something?" another nod, "That was more than just shock wasn't it?"

Dean looked at his brother confused, "What else could it have been?"

"It looked a lot like an anxiety attack." Sam told him, "I had a friend in college who would get them really bad." he explained.

Ana nodded slightly, "From time to time I get them." she answered, voice soft, "I.. uh… The majority of the time it's only triggered by certain things, but if I get too stressed or tired random things can set them off."

"What are your normal triggers?" Sam asked, "It may help if we know so that we can avoid them or help you if you have another attack."

She winced at a memory then shook her head, hiding her face in Dean's chest, "I don't want to talk about it." she muttered.

"Okay, you don't have to." Dean glanced at Sam, worry clear in his eyes, "Why don't you go with Sam and get some water? Maybe try to eat something?" he suggested, brushing his hand through her hair.

Sam stood up and offered her his hand, "I think we have hot choco." he smiled at her.

Ana turned to look at Sam, pausing a moment before she took his hand and let him help her to her feet. Once he was sure she was stable, Dean quickly grabbed her phone that had dropped on to the floor and stood up. He watched as Sam led her toward the kitchen and then turned to Cas, "Things are definitely going to be different around here."

"Yes, Dean, there is a third person living here now. Being as that she is female a lot will most likely change." Castiel agreed.

"Not exactly what I meant, Cas." He glanced down at the phone in his hand, deciding if he should act on his urge to find out about her anxiety. Pulling the number up on the screen quickly, he hit the call button before he could change his mind.

"Ana?" Heather asked from the other line.

"No.. uh… it's Dean. Look I'm sorry about snapping at you earlier, but I need you to tell me something."

Heather scoffed, "I don't _need_ to tell you anything, Dean. Let me talk to Ana."

"She's not really in a good place to talk right now." He sighed, sliding a hand down his face as he walked over to a chair, "She had an anxiety attack and is still pretty shook up."

Heather paused, "What happened?"

"There's just a lot for her to deal with right now, she said that when she gets too stressed that they're easily triggered. I think that's what happened." He explained, not entirely sure he understood what had happened, "She mentioned something about having specific triggers, but when we asked her about it she didn't want to talk. Mind filling me in?"

"Why do you want to know?" She sounded guarded, as if what he was bringing up was uncomfortable to talk about.

He rolled his eyes, remembering how the few conversations he had with the women when they were younger had felt like a game of twenty questions, "So that we can avoid this happening as much as possible."

Heather paused, "It's not my place to tell you, Dean, not something like this. When she feels like you need to know, she'll tell you herself."

"How am I supposed to help her with this if I don't even know why it happens?" he pushed, wanting answers.

"There was an… incident when she was younger, four or five." she sighed, "It's caused her quite a few problems. I'm not going to tell you, I can't. Just give her time to tell you."

When it was clear that she was going to stick to her decision, Dean sighed, "Fine."

"Dean…"

"Yeah?"

She sighed, "Don't push this with her. It's hard for her to talk about. Just… just keep her safe."

The comment surprised Dean, of course he would keep her safe, he was her father, "I will." he assured her and hung up the phone. A deeper worry began to set in, what was so bad that Heather wouldn't talk to him about it. The way she made it sound had his mind rushing to the worst possibilities. "Cas, I need a favor." he sat her phone down on the table as he looked over at his friend.

"What would you like me to do, Dean?" Castiel moved over to the table, he had been giving Dean space to talk on the phone in some amount of privacy.

"I need you to find out what happened to Ana when she was a child. Between four and five years old, it sounds like something bad." He requested.

Castiel gave him a curt nod, "I will see what I can find out, but Dean, maybe this is something you should wait for her to tell you herself."

"Just go find out."

"Don't bother." Ana stopped Castiel before he could disappear and go dig around in Heaven or wherever for his answers. She looked at her father and lifted up the bottom of her shirt to just below the line of her bust, revealing circular scars scattered across the skin. They varied in size, some just smaller than a dime and other about the size of a nickel. "There was a family who lived just down the street from us while I was growing up, they would take care of me sometimes when Heather had to work. The husband and wife were nice, but their sixteen year old son decided to use me as an ashtray." She pointed to a couple of the smaller ones, "Then there were the times where it was just more fun to put the car port lighter directly to my skin." she moved her finger to a larger burn.

Sam was standing behind her, listening as she spoke, noticing that the burns circled around on her back as well, "Please tell me someone turned him in for that." anger in his voice.

She pulled her shirt back down and nodded, "He got locked up about six months later and I got left with an extreme fear of lighters and cigarettes." Her gaze dropped to the floor for a moment as she took in a deep breath before she raised them again to meet Dean's. Moving quickly, she walked over to where he was sitting, grabbed her phone off of the table and then walked out of the room, needing some time to recover from her attack. Once in her room, she closed the door behind her and climbed back into bed. Exhaustion set in fast and she was asleep within minutes.

 _Extra A/N: So this chapter was rough for me, I wanted some extra background knowledge on Ana before we start getting deep into the ritual/sacrifice nonsense. I would love to know what you think! Please, please leave a review! Thanks for reading :)_


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Hello my lovelies! Giant thank you to those of you who have followed and favorited since my last update! No big warnings this time round, mild violence which should be expected in this sort of Supernatural fic. Sadly, I do not own Supernatural or any of it's characters, just my OC. Reviews are welcome!_

Ana hadn't slept for long when a nightmare about Sam and Dean trying to kill her woke her up. She groaned, pulling the blanket over her head and hiding from everything around her, trying to calm down before the dream triggered another anxiety attack. _It was just a nightmare, not a vision. They aren't going to hurt you._ She repeated the words in her head until she had calmed down. Checking the time on her phone, she was grateful that she hadn't slept all day, there was a lot they still needed to figure out about her family and the ritual.

Deciding that a shower was a good idea, she quickly made her way into the bathroom she had claimed and started the water. Sitting down on the toilet she took off her boots and studied her injured foot, Dean had stitched it up pretty good so hopefully it would heal faster. She sighed as she stood up and moved over to the mirror to check out her forehead. "That's going to leave a scar." she muttered to herself, not that she really cared. Most of her skin had been covered with scars for as long as she could remember.

Normally when she showered she took her sweet time, but she just wanted to feel clean before she continued on with her day so she made it a quick one. She shook the towel through her hair and stood up, wrapping it around herself as a vision hit. It happened fast and once it was over it was clear to her that it was meant to draw her out of the bunker. Wrapping the towel securely around her torso, she hurried out of the bathroom, down the hall, and into the library where she found Sam and Dean eating lunch.

"Ana, what the hell?" Dean averted his eyes, "Go put on some clothes!"

She rolled her eyes, "Seriously? Everything's covered, but that's not the point right now. I had a vision, there's a group of demons torturing a family in town and they're taking their time doing it."

The brothers shared a look, "A trap." Sam stated.

"Hell yeah, it's a freaking trap, but we can't just let those people die! We need to save them!" She combed a hand through her damp hair.

"I thought I made it very clear that you were not going to be included in any form of hunting." Dean stood up and walked over to her, "Self protection is as far as your training goes."

Ana groaned, "We don't have time for this! I'm not letting you two go alone and we need to do this! I saw five demons, there are probably more and there's mostly definitely a trap meant to take me or probably one of you in order to get me to them. I already thought about that, but we have a better chance getting out of there together with the three of us."

Dean glared down at her, "You are not leaving the bunker."

"Call Castiel, take him with us, at least let me go to get the family out and to a freaking hospital if they're still alive. I am not staying here." She poked him in the chest then spun around on her heel, "We need to leave asap, I'll be dressed in a few."

"She's not coming with us." Dean mumbled, turning to look at his brother who was sporting an amused grin. "What?"

Sam shook his head, "Just that you think you can keep her here is hilarious. First of all she's a Winchester, second… she's your daughter, Dean. Neither of those things are not going to play in your favor."

"You just shut up, right now." Dean pointed a finger at him, "Come on, looks like we have a family to save."

"You gonna call, Cas?"

He thought a moment then nodded, "It would be nice to have some extra back up, I want there to be a quick escape option for Ana in case things go south."

Sam nodded and stood up from his chair, "We should make sure we have everything we need in the car."

Digging the keys out of the pocket of his jeans, Dean tossed them to his brother, "You do that, I'm going to make sure Ana is ready."

The brothers walked toward the garage together, but Dean turned into the shooting range, leaving Sam to check their supplies. He grabbed a box out of the ammo cabinet and then headed toward Ana's room. They almost bumped into each other as she came out of the door, "Hey, I'm ready." She said as she pulled on her jacket.

"You have the pistol I gave you?"

She pulled it out of the waist of her pants, "It's not loaded though."

He handed her the box in his hand, "Use these. If you're going to come in with us you have to do everything I tell you, alright? I say run and you run as fast as you can, got it?"

"Got it." Ana peaked inside of the box to see rounds with devils traps carved into them. "Let's go. We don't have much time." She moved around him, hurrying toward the garage.

Keeping a few steps behind her, he sent up a silent prayer to Cas, asking for his help. Just as they reached the car the angel appeared next to Sam, "So we are just going to head straight into a trap?" He questioned.

"There are lives at stake, Cas." Ana told him, "I don't care how crazy it sounds, but I'm not going to ignore that vision just because I know it's a set up." She glanced at the three men and got into the car, "We need to hurry." She snapped the words as she opened the box of ammunition, quickly loading her pistol.

-A-

One of the things that had made Ana sure that the vision she had was a hook drawing her into some sort of trap that Barbas had set up was the fact that the first thing she had seen was the address of the house. Part of her understood that her gift was supposed to help people, Missouri had informed her of that, but a separate part knew that it probably wasn't meant to be that easy.

"Are you sure this is the right place? It seems quiet from out here." Dean commented as he slowed the Impala to a stop across the street.

Ana looked at the house, the yellow color and the white shutters looking exactly as they had in her vision, "Yes, I'm sure." she opened the door and moved to get out of the car, the images of the family being tortured making her want to run in there and put an end to it.

Dean quickly got out of the car and grabbed her by the shoulder before she could go running inside, "You hang back, stay behind me and when it's clear you get those people out of there." he stared into her eyes, "No heroics, you do what I tell you, capece?"

She responded with a quick nod and pulled back the slide of her pistol, loading a round into the chamber, "I'm not going to do anything stupid. Lead the way."

"Alright." He turned around, walking over to Sam and Castiel who were getting weapons out of the trunk, "If things go bad in there, I want you to get her out as fast as you can, Cas. Get her back to the bunker and make sure she stays there."

Sam looked at his brother with a raised eyebrow, "How bad are you expecting this to go?"

He looked at the men before him, making sure they were properly armed before closing the trunk, "As bad as it could, Sammy. This Barbas needs Ana for his freaking unity ritual, he's going to do whatever he can to get to her, this is just the beginning."

"We should get in there." Ana spoke up, walking toward Dean, "You guys ready?"

"Remember what I said." Dean stared down at her.

She rolled her eyes, "Dean, I'm not an idiot, I do not have a death wish. I will listen to what you tell me to do. Now, can we go?"

He gave her a quick nod before turning and leading the group toward the house, "Sam, Cas you guys go through the back door. We'll go through the front." Without any argument the men picked up their pace, moving around the house. Dean paused when they were standing in front of the door, he turned around to look at her, "Stay close, kid." he grabbed the angel blade he had been hiding underneath his jacket and reached for the doorknob opening the door slowly.

Ana gripped her pistol tightly as she followed her father down the small hallway, there was a large opening in the wall a few feet away from them that she knew opened into the living room area. The room she saw in her vision that held three bloodied and scarred humans as well as the five demons who were inflicting their pain.

"You stay here," Dean whispered as he saw Sam and Cas come down the hall the opposite way, "We'll start clearing them out then you can get the family to safety." He waited until she gave him a nod before moving into the room, "Well hey there fellas, did someone forget to invite me to the party?" The five men with black eyes that stood before him grinned wickedly.

"You're right on time, Winchester." The demon against the wall commented, pushing himself away from it he walked over to Dean. The human body that it took over couldn't have been much older than Ana, the fitted jeans and oddly tight deep v-neck shirt he was wearing made Dean glad for a moment that he hadn't fathered a boy that wore crap like that. "We couldn't start the real party without your daughter, speaking of which, where is Anastasia?" he looked past Dean, "I know she's here, the power rolling off of her is enough to make my skin tingle." As the demon spoke Sam and Cas walked into the room through the second entrance and began to take of two of the demons closest to them.

Ana's green eyes peaked around the corner, she had heard the fight break out and wanted to see if the demons were all distracted enough for her to run in and help the family out. She saw that Dean was standing in front of the demon who had been talking, the angel blade still in his hand as the demon distracted him, "You know, Dean, when I heard that you'd reproduced I was honestly questioning your intelligence, but then I saw her and I was extremely thankful that you had. Your girl is quite the looker." The look that crossed Dean's face as the demon's words registered could only be described as blood-thirsty and it didn't surprise her that he decided to act in that moment, lashing out with his weapon.

The two demons that had been standing back moved in to the fight with Dean, sufficiently outnumbering him and forcing all of his attention to be on them. Waiting a moment, she watched to make sure he wouldn't need her help, but she saw Castiel kill the demon he had been facing off with and then move to help Dean. Seeing that all of the demons were all distracted, Ana quickly moved out of the hall and toward the family that had been tied up and gagged. The demons had positioned themselves in front of the family so at first she couldn't see how bad they were injured, but as she got closer she was thankful that they didn't seem to be that hurt.

"Don't worry, I'm here to help." She told them softly as she reached for the mother's gag and pulled it out of her mouth.

The woman blinked and her eyes changed to solid black, "Oh, I know you are honey."

Ana turned to run, but a set of hands grabbed each of her arms and she couldn't move. Glancing to each of her sides, she saw that both the father and the son were possessed as well. The realization of how much trouble they were in began to sink in as the mother walked around, a knife in her hand that she pointed at Ana's throat.

Dean had just taken out one of the three demons that were on him and Cas when he caught sight of the blade at his daughter's throat. "Ana!" he moved toward her but was stopped dead in his tracks when the demon pressed the tip of the blade hard into her skin, causing blood to well up. "You get the hell away from her." Dean warned, mentally swearing at himself for even letting Ana come into something so dangerous.

"Ah ah ah, you may want to keep your distance," The demon warned with a grin, "I'm not allowed to kill her, but we weren't ordered against breaking bones." she glanced over at the demon possessing the son. He moved his hands so that one was just under her elbow and the other was just above her wrist. Dean watched as the demon broke her arm and Ana screamed out in pain, dropping to her knees. The demon in the mother knelt down next to her, "Two hundred and five more to go, Dean. We can keep this up all night," she grabbed a fist full of Ana's red hair and pulled on it, forcing the girl to lift her head, her face was wet with tears and white from the pain, "Or you can leave now and we can stop this whole charade right now."

"Over my dead body." Dean snapped, turning to shove his blade into the demon that he had spoken with earlier.

The woman instructed the demons who had held her arms to join in the fight, there was no need to hold the girl any longer, her focus and been completely shot by the pain flooding through her body. With the hunters only outnumbered by one, the woman stood up and dragged Ana up with her by her good arm. "Let's go have a little girl talk, shall we?" she pulled Ana with her out of the room.

It only took a moment for the men to notice that Ana had been taken while they were focused on their fight, "Dean, go! We can finish them off." Sam told his older brother as he caught a demon across the face with his blade.

Dean kicked the demon he had been fighting in the chest then turned and ran out of the room, hoping that they weren't that far ahead of him. He ran out the front door which was left open and out on to the street, "Ana!" he called, looking back and forth, trying to determine which way the demon and led her.

-A-

"Ana, honey, keep up. Otherwise you're not going to make it to our destination in one piece." The woman tsked at her, still pulling the girl by her good arm. The pain in her other arm was blinding, she had never experienced anything like it before and it was enough to make her nauseous. She stumbled, barely aware enough to keep her feet moving let alone pick them up all the way, but her survival instincts had taken over and she pushed herself on, fearing that more pain would be in store if she ceased to move.

They had only made it a full block away when she tripped, landing on her side on the hard asphalt. She groaned, move pain seizing her body, "Get up you pathetic girl." the demon snarled at her, the knife in her hand aimed at Ana. "I will bleed you out right here."

Something clicked inside of Ana, survival instincts quickly formed to fight-or-flight instincts, which was strange since she felt like she couldn't do either. There was no way she could move fast enough to get away, but she understood that if she didn't do something she was good as dead. Her eyes opened and she looked up as the demon knelt next to her, the knife in her hand moving toward her at an alarming rate, "No!" Ana screamed out, she squeezed her eyes shut and felt the weird tingly sensation she had felt with her visions take over, but it was so much stronger than that. The feeling only intensified and it wasn't long before she felt herself lose consciousness.

-A-

"Ana!" Dean called out again, turning around quickly when he heard footsteps behind him. Seeing that it was Sam and Cas, he swore, "They were gone before I got out here." he informed them.

"Cas, can you sense her?" Sam asked, hoping that the angel could at least point them in the right direction, but before he had the chance to answer there was a large, bright flash of light that filled the dark night. The men all glanced at each other and then ran down the street in the direction it had come from.

As they grew closer to where the flash had come from, they could clearly see two bodies laying on the ground. "Ana!" Dean yelled, sprinting over to her, quickly checking that she was still breathing.

Sam moved past them with his blade out, he walked over to the other limp body on the ground. It was the body of the woman the demon had possessed and it was clearly dead. Turning away from the body, he watched as Dean picked Ana's body up off of the ground, "Is she okay?"

Dean was looking worriedly at her face, not sure if she was or not, he looked at Cas, "Is she?" he questioned, fear racking his body.

The angel placed two fingers on her forehead, healing her broken arm while he checked on her, "She's weak. Whatever killed the demon came from her, I can feel the resonating power all over her. I healed her arm, but the rest she's going to have to do on her own."

Sam watched as his brother visibly relaxed, "Cas, why don't you fly them back to the bunker? I'll drive the car back." he offered, knowing that they were only keeping Ana in danger the longer she was out of their protected home.

Dean shook his head, "None of us are going to stay out alone for a while. I don't want to risk it." his eyes never left Ana's face, "Cas, take her back, put her in bed. Sam and I will be there shortly." Castiel nodded and took Ana from Dean, disappearing within moments of the switch. "Come on, let's get the hell out of here." he said, turning and jogging back toward where they left the Impala.

It didn't take them long to reach the car and within moments of sitting down Dean was holding the accelerator to the floor. "Dean…" Sam broke the silence as they drove through town back toward the bunker, "What happened tonight wasn't your fault." he insisted, knowing his brother had blamed himself from the moment the demons laid their hands on Ana.

The older Winchester scoffed, "I let her leave the bunker. There's a demon out there who wants her alive and I let her lead us right into the trap that would have landed her in his hands." he began to yell, "Tell me how this isn't my fault!"

Sam sighed, "She's part of this family, she's your daughter. There are going to be supernatural beings after her at random points in time for whatever reason, but has that ever stopped us from doing our jobs? Or living?" he raised an eyebrow, "She has a big heart, she's not going to let innocent people get hurt if she can stop it." Dean didn't respond and the rest of the car ride back to the bunker was silent.

Once the car was parked in the garage both men hurried down the hall toward Ana's room, wanting to check and make sure she was okay. When Sam opened the door, they saw Castiel standing at the foot of her bed, watching over her. "She hasn't moved, I believe it will take some time for her body to replenish the energy it lost tonight."

Dean sat down on the edge of the bed, "Do you know what it was that she did to kill the demon?" he brushed the few wisps of hair that had fallen on her face back.

"I can't be certain, but I think it would be wise to say that it was some form of magic." Cas stated, "What I felt seemed like a spark, some sort of response to her life being in danger." he tried to explain.

Sam frowned, "Everything we've read on the Good witches says that it has taken long periods of time for their full powers to develop. She's only been having visions for a few months, she shouldn't have powers like that yet."

"I'm starting to think that nothing that pertains to her is going to be laid out like it was for the rest of her family." Castiel explained, before his face took on the focused expression it did when he was listening to 'angel radio', "I must go now."

Dean didn't need to turn around to know that Cas was gone, even when the angel traveled silently he could feel the appearance or the absence of his presence. "It's getting late, we should get some rest. I'm sure she won't be up until some time late tomorrow." Sam walked over to his brother, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"You go ahead, Sammy." He still wouldn't look away from her face, his focus on the sound of her steady breathing.

Sam knew that Dean wouldn't be leaving Ana alone that night, if what had happened to her had scared him, he could only imagine out much it had affected her father. Leaving her room, he retired to his own and was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

-A-

"I'm going to chain you up in here." Dean had been talking to her softly since Sam had left, "You're not going anywhere until I'm sure that Barbas bastard is dead." he yawned, exhaustion setting in. Moving from where he sat on her bed, he grabbed the desk chair and set it as close to her bed as he could get. He got as comfortable as he could and watched her sleep, his last thought before he drifted off being how much she reminded him of her mother.


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: Hello my lovelies! I've been finishing these chapters later and later at night in hopes to get them up as fast as I can for you, but because of this I'm starting to notice some mistakes as I go back through and re read them. I will do my best to fix that! Thank you all so much for reading and sticking with the story so far! I already have plans for later chapters that I'm really excited to share with you, but it will all come around in due time! Reviews are welcomed and appreciated as always! Here is your latest installment._

Almost a full day had passed since Dean had found Ana unconscious on the street outside of the demon infested house and she still hadn't woken up. As time passed he became more worried, he just wanted to know that whatever magic trick she had pulled to save herself from the demon hadn't caused any damage. He sighed as he paced back and forth passed the foot of the bed in her room, he'd barely left her side the entire time.

Sam had been in and out of the room since he had woken up that morning, checking on both his brother and his niece while also trying to find any answers about why Ana's powers had seemed to surface way faster than they should have. He leaned against the doorframe, watching as Dean frantically moved around, no longer able to stay still. The number of times he had seen his older brother like this could be counted on one hand and it made him uneasy, but he understood that this was one of the rare times he would have to be the rock in the family, the one to keep it together. "Dean, I'll keep her company. Why don't you go eat? Or shower?" he offered, moving into the room and placing a strong hand on Dean's shoulder to stop his pacing, "You need to relax. Cas said that she would need to recover, give it a little more time then she'll be up and on your last nerve just like she had been before."

With a shrug of his shoulder, he turned away from Sam and walked over to stand closer to Ana's side, "She's hasn't even been with us for half of a month, Sam, and she's already been caught by demons twice." his words were tense and full of self-hatred, "I told Heather I would keep her safe, I swore to keep her safe and as far away from all of this while she was still in the womb. Just over a week and she's almost lost her life twice."

"We are going to keep her safe, you're not in this alone. She's going to need to know more than just self defense." Sam spoke as he moved to the opposite side of the bed as Dean, looking down at the unconscious redhead between them, "We're going to put an end to this plan and to Barbas, but she's too deep in to keep her out of it all. Hell the whole damn thing revolves around her. Just let her get better and then we will make a plan, one that stops this all now, then she can go back to having a normal life."

Dean scoffed, "Right, because teaching her what we know about demons, letting her in on whatever plan isn't going to bury her so deep in this supernatural crap that she can't get out. She's a witch, Sam, nothing is going to be the same or normal for her again, no matter how much rest she gets."

"I'm not going to get any damn rest if you two don't shut the hell up." Ana mumbled, not moving an inch as she interrupted their arguing.

"Hey, kid." Dean sat down on the bed next to her, being careful not to jostle her, "How are you feeling?"

Ana winced, slowly moving her arm that had been injured the night before, pulling it up to hide her face, "Like I got hit by a freight train." she groaned, pausing to slightly open her eyes, she looked at her arm. "So I've either been out for months or Cas healed my arm."

The comment made Sam chuckle slightly, his spirits lifting now that she was awake, "Yeah, Cas healed you."

"Then why the hell couldn't he have fixed everything else." she snapped, closing her eyes again.

Dean smiled weakly at her, "He didn't say, just said you had to do the rest yourself." he pushed her arm away from her face, "Do you remember what happened?"

Rubbing her hand across her forehead, she brushed over the cut that was still healing from her drunken stupor and winced, it was still tender, "Ah…" she thought, recalling a house full of demons and being led away from her family by the demon that had possessed the woman Ana thought she was meant to save, "She threatened to kill me," she remembered, "when she started to come at me with the knife I panicked… then it all goes black."

"When we got to you the demon was dead and you were unconscious. You don't remember anything about how you stopped it?" Sam asked, grabbing the desk chair to sit down.

Ana rolled her head over slowly, looking up at her uncle, silently wishing she had answers for him, "I… I remember feeling like I was going to have a vision, the weird tingle that comes before one hit me so strong… but other than that I don't remember much."

Sam reached over and grabbed one of her hands,"It's okay, Ana, we're going to figure this all out." he reassured her.

"And you are not going to be in danger like that again," Dean insisted, having made up his mind the night before, "I'm not chancing you getting hurt."

The girl groaned, "Da…" she caught herself before she uttered the word that almost slipped unwelcomed, "Dean." correcting herself, "I am not in the mood nor do I have enough strength to argue about this right now. Let's revisit this when I've had more sleep."

Her slip up hadn't gone unnoticed by the man and it made his chest tighten in a strange way, ignoring it, he looked down at her, brushing a hand through her red hair, "Alright, kid, get some rest. When you feel a little better I'll remind you that you're not leaving here until this is over and then insist on you being tied to a chair." he smirked at her and stood up.

Sam shook his head watching as the two before him bickered, "Don't you think you should eat something? You haven't eaten in a couple of days." he pointed out.

Ana tossed her head back and forth, "Sleep, Sam." she muttered, grabbing a hold over her blanket and pulling it up to her chin, "I'll eat when I feel alive."

"Alright." He responded, sounding worried, "Get some rest, we'll see you in the morning." he stood up, ready to follow his brother out of the room to let her get some rest.

"Wait… morning?" she sounded confused, "What time is it? How long have I been out?"

"Almost a full day." Dean told her softly, "Now go to sleep, we'll figure this all out when you wake up." he patted her back gently, she sounded weak and he didn't like that. Grabbing his brother's shoulder he steered him out of the room. Quietly closing the door behind him, he let out a relieved sigh.

Sam stopped and smiled at him, "She's awake, she's going to be okay."

"I know." he responded, turning toward the library, "Come on, we need a plan and I want it fast."

-A-

Ana woke up earlier than she was happy about the next morning, but she guessed that after sleeping for a day and a half straight she might as well get up. Sitting up in bed she assessed the damage across her body. The arm that had been broken by the demon was healed, thanks to Cas, but it seemed that he left the wounds that she inflicted upon herself during her drunken night. _Was that really four days ago? It feels so much longer than that._ The thought passed through her head as she grabbed her foot, wanting to cheek the stitches on the bottom.

With her foot on her lap, she paused, she knew for a fact that when she had blacked out that she had been wearing shoes… and now she wasn't. _Sam or dad must have taken them off._ Her words cycled back through her head and she swore out loud, remembering how she had almost let the 'd' word slip last night while talking to Dean. It made her uneasy. A part of her was more than ready to attach the title to the man that was without a doubt her father, but then there was the separate part that wasn't sure either of them were ready for that.

Pushing her stress out of her mind, she studied her foot carefully, it seemed to be healing okay so she let it go and stood up, wanting to test her weight on it. There was a slight tugging of skin as she walked, but there wasn't much pain, which she was thankful for. Smiling at her ability to walk without any limp at all, she crossed the room to her dresser and digging out clean clothes, she deemed it necessary to shower immediately.

-A-

The water had run cold before she got out of the shower and she felt instantly better the moment she was dressed, ready to face whatever the day had in store for her… Even if that included demons trying to capture her, learning that she was in fact a witch, or convincing Dean that she should be allowed to leave the bunker.

She was playing around with her phone as she left her bathroom, playing up her music app and starting all of her music on shuffle, not in the mood for anything in particular. The song that played first made her smile sweetly, Fly by Maddie & Tae, she wasn't much for the girlie side of country music, but the song was catchy. It had happened more often than not that people would comment on the strange variety of music she listened to. Her favorites were rock of any kind, though she was iffy about it when it was all screaming she couldn't understand, and the more upbeat country songs. From time to time she enjoyed classical music, Mozart and Beethoven, folk music when she was in the mood, and every now and then pop or rap would catch her attention; the girl just loved music.

While starting a pot of coffee she hummed along to the slower song, sing softly to herself as the chorus hit as she looked around for something to eat. Hearing a disgruntled sound from behind her, she spun around, laughing at the disgusted look on Dean's face, "What the hell are you listening to?" he grumbled.

"It's called music, Dean." she gave him a cheeky grin.

The man scoffed, "This is not music, this is… is… I don't even know what to call this crap. Turn it off."

Ana looked him over, noticing that he was clearly not ready to be awake, still wearing what she was beginning to realize qualified as Dean's pajamas, sweats and a plain tee shirt. She shook her head at him and grabbed her phone, hitting the next button until she came across a song she thought he might better approve of, "You know there's more to music than just hair bands, right?" she questioned as Burnin' for You by Blue Oyster Cult started.

"Now this is music!" He grinned as he walked over to where she was standing by the coffee pot, picking her phone up off of the counter, "What else do you have on this thing?" he began to scroll through the songs she had saved, "Please explain to me how you go from Moonlight Sonata by freaking Beethoven to Nothing Else Matters by Metallica?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as he continued to scroll.

She shrugged, "I like variety." she stated simply, grabbing two mugs out of the cupboard and filling both with coffee.

"How'd you get into 'hair bands' any way? Looks like you have a lot of eighties rock." he set her phone down.

"Heather." the name being her answer for years to the question, "She never really left the decade music wise. Honestly, I'm thankful for it, some of my favorite songs are classic rock songs." she explained, sipping at her mug.

Dean grinned, "Well at least she did something right raising you." he teased.

Ana reacted quickly, slapping his shoulder with the back of her hand, "Hey! My upbringing was perfectly fine. I turned out to be an amazing person." she chided him.

"I like to think that it's our shared DNA that makes you amazing." He continued on, enjoying the peaks he was slowly getting of her true personality. They had been so focused on the ritual and her family history that it was hard to determine what she was like other than pretty smart and quick to anger.

"Right… that's all you, Dean. Without you as my father I would have been the most dull person on the planet! Thank you so much for gracing me with your genes." sarcasm dripped from her dramatic words.

He smiled down at her, "Glad to see that being attacked by a few demons didn't take away your ability to be completely sarcastic." Turning around, he glanced at the clock that hung on the wall across the room and groaned, "You gonna be good for a while if I go get some shut eye? I didn't sleep too well in your desk chair the night before last and I didn't get to sleep until a couple hours ago."

She studied him a moment, "You slept in my desk chair?" his statement obviously confusing her.

"You had your arm broken, had been taken by a demon, and then I found you in the middle of the road next to said demon who was dead." he stated, "There was a split second where I thought I'd lost you and it scared the crap out of me. Not to mention that when I found you, you were unconscious. I was worried, Ana." his voice was soft, eyes sincere as he explained himself to her.

They stared at each other a moment, the words processing in her mind. Then before she could stop herself, she had set her mug on the countertop and closed the small space that had been between them, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. Her head was perfect level with his chest and it rested there, "Thanks, Dean." she told him.

The hug itself had taken him by surprise, but it didn't take him long to respond by wrapping his arms around her as well, resting his cheek on the top of her head, "Anytime, kid." he assured her, before clearing his throat and pulling away. "Alright, I'm going back to bed. Don't do anything crazy."

Ana nodded and watched as he turned to leave the room, just as he reached the door a thought struck her, "Hey, Dean." he paused, turning to look at her, "I know you're not a fan, but you should prepare yourself for a bunch of 'chick-flick' moments." she quoted him, grinning. She received only a glare in return before he left out the door.

-A-

After eating a small breakfast and starting on her third cup of coffee Ana sat at the large table in the library, a book about her family's history on the table in front of her. The book was a sort of documentation of the one wicked witch from her mother's side. At the beginning it made it very clear that Charlotte wasn't the only evil in the Good blood line, but that she had been the only actual witch to go dark side. The author of the book had been Charlotte's elder sister Annabelle, she herself had the ability to get nothing but the truth out of anyone she asked which made it incredibly easy to write about her sister's evil acts.

 _Charlotte returned home late in the night covered from head to toe in blood, a strange giddy smile made the whole thing more unsettling to me. When I questioned her about what had happened there was no hesitation to try and lie, she had given up months ago on trying to hide what she did from me. She told me how she had ran into a group of men in town around my age, when they bothered her she said she warned them, but that they continued on. Seeming it fit to punish them for not listening to her, she pulled the skin from their bodies with a wave of her hand. I fear that it won't be much longer before I am to be punished for something she deems wrong._

The passage made Ana shutter. The sisters lived during the 1800s, but the thought of anyone in her family being able to do that sort of thing didn't sit right with her. She shook her head and closed the book, gripping tight on to her coffee cup as she brought her legs up to her chest. What if that happened to her? It was the only thing she could think about. What if something happened and she went evil? Would her father and her uncle be able to kill her if it came down to it? She knew how much family meant to them and though they had known each other a short amount of time they were all growing more comfortable with thinking about it that way. They were family, end of story.

Hearing footsteps pulled her thoughts away from her possible future and to Sam who was walking into the room, she gave him a forced smile, "Morning."

"Good morning. Glad to see you up and around." He grinned, walking over to where she was sitting, "Let's try and keep instances like that few and far between." he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, I am a Winchester, if the record you and Dean have is anything to go off of I'm practically doomed to almost die a handful of times." she joked, hoping to lighten her own mood. Nothing made her more annoyed than being grumpy, which only made her more grumpy, it was a never ending cycle.

Sam chuckled softly, "Yeah, well as long as you don't start trading your soul for someone else's life I think we'll call it a win." he gave her shoulder one more squeeze before turning toward the direction of the kitchen, "Is there more coffee?"

She lifted up her foot and used her toes to scootch the book across the table, she didn't want it any where near her, "Uh, yeah. I made a full pot, there's still some left." she answered over her shoulder. With her head cocked to the side, she glared at the book, as if that could change the possibility of her going evil. There was the sound of ruffling wings behind her as she took a sip of coffee, "Hey, Cas." she greeted the angel, knowing it had to be him.

"Anastasia, how are you feeling?" his gruff voice was the same monotone it normally was, but if she didn't know better, she might have caught a very small hint of worry. He walked around so that he was standing in front of her, his brow furrowed in concentration. "Your energy seems to have improved drastically."

As she stood up from the chair, she looked him over, wondering if there was something he knew about what she did to the demon that he wasn't sharing with everyone, "I'm feeling better. Not quite one hundred percent, but almost." Sam walked back into the room as she spoke, "Can you fill in any of the blanks I'm missing? Do you know how I killed the demon?"

Castiel frowned, "When I healed you that night, I could feel the residual energy lingering in you and at the time I couldn't identify it. So I returned to Heaven and asked those who I can trust, but the answers I received I'm afraid may upset you."

"I need to know, Cas, whatever it is I have to know."

There was a pause from the angel as he seemed to consider his next choice of words carefully, he didn't wish to cause her to have another anxiety attack, "I had assumed that it was magic that killed the demon, magic that you some how conjured, but as I said I wasn't certain. My assumption was correct, the form of magic you used has never been accessed by a witch with so little training. You produced a white light so pure that it killed the demon."

Ana's eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she processed his words, "A pure white light? How?"

"I do not know." Castiel answered, "It was something similar to the reaction of an angel blade on a demon. Those I spoke to in Heaven didn't think it was possible for you to do such a thing, but that is the only explanation."

Sam glanced back and forth between Cas and Ana as their conversation came to a grinding hault. It was obvious that Castiel didn't have any other information for them and Ana was clearly trying to process the news without freaking out. The younger Winchester had no idea what to do, so when he saw his brother walk into the room he let out a small relieved sigh.

Dean paused mid-stride as the mood of the room seemed to sink in. He glanced long and hard at his daughter's face, brushing a hand through his still damp hair before walking over to where she stood in front of Castiel. "What's going on?" he questioned both of them, not really caring who answered as long as he got one.

"I have just informed Ana that though I am certain that what saved her life the night of the fight with the demons was magic, it was magic that no witch without training would be able to do such a thing." Castiel explained, slowly turning his gaze from the girl to her father. "From what I understand it is akin to what happens when a demon is struck with an angel blade. Something so good and pure that it literally tore the demon to shreds."

It took a minute for the angel's words to sink in for Dean. When it all began to fall into place he looked at Ana, noticing that in that moment she looked considerably younger than she normally did, fear seeming to make her shrink into herself, "Ana…" he spoke her name softly, waiting before her eyes flicked up to look into his own before continuing, "Are you okay?" his own words made him frown, what a stupid question. Of course she wasn't alright, he could tell just by looking at her.

At first she didn't seem to hear his words, her gaze shifting back to the angel that stood in front of her, "So, was it just a freak thing? Maybe it happened because I was in danger and my body just reacted to save itself?" she asked, not being able to consciously making the decision to use magic. "Or was this more of the tip of the iceberg sort of deal? Do I know have access to that power all of the time?" the questions continued to roll of her tongue before she could stop herself.

Castiel's face tensed slightly in concentration as he carefully thought about what she was asking, thinking back to what he felt inside of her that night when he looked into her body and soul while also using his senses to get a reading off of her as she was in front of him. "The power that I felt that night, it is still inside of you. It's not as sporadic as it was that night, so I believe it's safe to say that part of it was a sort of safety mechanism, but you are correct in your 'tip of the iceberg' analogy. The power is still very active inside of you, I have no doubt that if you focused you could use it."

Ana considered his words as she fell back into her chair, "I'm gone full blown Harry Potter." she mumbled as she put her head in her hands.

Dean shook his head, quickly falling into his normal role of joking in tense situations, "Nah, not Harry Potter, you don't have a wand."

She brushed her red hair away from her face as she looked up at him, eyebrow raised, "I'm sure I could work on getting one if that will make you feel better." she teased dryly.

"Hey," he spoke softly, closing the distance between them and crouching down in front of her, "Don't let this get to you. We're going to help you figure this out. Cas said that it was a good, pure magic that came from you, focus on that. I know you've been worried about going to dark side, do you think that is still a possibility after what he just told you?"

Focusing on his green eyes, she took a moment to think about it before her face scrunched up with worry, "I have all of this power, Dean, and I apparently have access to it way sooner than any other witch in my family did. What if it's too powerful? What if I can't control it and it starts to control me?"

Reaching out, he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "That's not possible." his tone was a little stern, he would have no arguing on this matter, "You are from one of the most powerful bloodlines in witch history, not to mention that we Winchester's are very stubborn. This power will not control you. We will find everything you need to learn to control and understand it, there will be no possibility for you to lose control after that."

"Magic isn't an invading force in your body. Your magic is a part of you, as long as your intentions stay pure so will your power." Castiel spoke up, moving over to a chair near her to sit down, "You are not an evil person, Anastasia, I can feel that inside of you. If I had to guess, I would say that you are going to do great things with the magic you have been given." he spoke the truth, hoping it would comfort her.

Ana watched Cas a moment before giving him a weak smile. A thought struck her and she looked back to Dean, who was still in front of her, "Think about how much easier it will be to take out demons when I learn to do that light thing without having to be threatened with death."

"Nu uh," he pointed a finger up at her, almost poking her nose with it, "You are not going to start going after demons. If they come after you, then you can do your firework witchy mojo, but you are not going to start hunting because you can do this.

"Uh… Dean," Sam interrupted, "At this point I don't think we can really keep her out of this. She's the target for a world shattering ritual, she has crazy power, and she's a Winchester. That's all working against your plan to keep her out of this."

Dean glared at his younger brother, "There is no way in hell I'm letting her become a hunter!" he yelled as he stood up, stalking away from the table.

Ana stood and followed him, "I wouldn't be a hunter! I'm a freaking witch, that throws me in the world of the supernatural whether you like it or not. Add that on to being your daughter and I'm pretty much screwed if I don't get a handle on my powers and learn to use them." she grabbed his elbow, stopping him from walking. "I'm giving you two options here. You can either hop on the same train of thought that Sam and I are on which means I learn to protect myself and help you guys or you can tell me no again and I can figure this all out on my own, without your help."

"You're giving me options?!" he spun on her, "That's not how this works, Anastasia! I am your father and when it comes to this stuff I'm going to decide what's best for you."

"In case it slipped your mind, I'm a fucking legal adult, _father."_ she snapped at him, "I have the right to make my own decisions and if you keep treating me like a child I will leave! What would be worse? Me learning to keep myself safe here while I learn how to control my powers or being completely unprotected while I try to figure it out, on my own, out in the world?"

"Would you two stop fighting?" Sam shook his head at them both, moving across the room to where they stood, he had enough of their constant bickering, "You," he faced Dean, "Need to get over the fact that whatever plans you had for her have gone out the window. She's an adult, she's a witch, and I won't let you push her away because you're too damn stubborn." He turned to look at Ana, "And you are being just as stubborn as he is. I get that you're still trying to process through the whole long lost father/ being a witch nonsense, but you need to give him some time to figure it out too. He never wanted this for you, Ana. He wanted you safe and now he can't guarantee that you will be. Now go to your rooms and calm down." he snapped, glaring at them both.

Dean raised an eyebrow at him, "Sam, I am not a child."

He scoffed, "Well you're freaking acting like one. Until you both come to terms with what is going to happen I don't want to see either of you."

"Sam…" Ana whined.

"GO!" he ordered, crossing his arms over his chest, glaring at them both and daring either of them to argue.

Ana and Dean glared at each other before turning on their heels and storming off toward their rooms. "We are not done with the argument, Anastasia Marie." he warned her as she reached for her doorknob.

She wheeled on him, "Do you think I want to argue with you like this? I just find out that you're my father and you think that I'm doing this to just be difficult? I'm not a kid, Dean. You have to let me make my own decisions, I've been doing it for years now and that's not going to change because you're in my life now." she sighed, defeated and tired, "I don't want to leave, but if you don't come to terms with this I will." she warned one last time before walking into her room, closing the door behind her.


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: Hey everyone! Ten chapters down and I still can't believe that you all are sticking around to read the crazy things I come up with in my head. I'm going to be introducing another OC in this chapter who will be hanging around for a while, so be looking forward to that! I'm also wanting to bring in more canon characters, leave me a comment on who your favorites are and I'll see what I can do about bringing them in! Thanks for sticking with me guys :)_

Dean slammed the door to his room behind him as he stormed in. Why couldn't either of them see that he was just trying to do what was best for Ana? She shouldn't be exposed to the hunting life or have to learn to use her freaking powers. He swore and threw himself down on his bed. All he wanted to do was keep her away from all of it, but part of him knew it was inevitable. It would pull her in just like it did everyone else he tried to keep out of it. Hell, it had already started, she was already so much deeper in than he was comfortable with.

" _I don't want leave, but if you don't come to terms with this I will."_

He continued to replay that sentence in his head, it was on a constant loop. Over and over and over… The thought of her leaving where he couldn't keep her safe scared him. It scared him worse than any demon ever had and he knew he couldn't chance it. There was no other option, he would have to live with the fact that she was with him and protected while learning how to control her powers and fight the evil of the world rather than her being however far away and doing it all on her own, unprotected.

Grumbling to himself, he got off of his bed and quickly left his room before he could change his mind. When he reached the library he found his younger brother sitting at the large table with a book in front of his face, "Fine. I don't like is, but I won't push her away." he stated, watching as Sam dropped the book to the table, "Since we're doing this we might as well start now, how is she supposed to learn to control her powers?"

Ana had heard him march down the hall and had finally caught up to his long legs as he uttered the last sentence. "I have to learn first hand." she spoke softly from behind him.

He slowly turned around to look at her, trying his hardest to reign in his frustration with the situation, "What's that supposed to mean? We're just supposed to throw you in the middle of danger and see what happens?"

"No, that would be trial and error." she explained, moving around him and into the library, "The witches in my line, once they came in to their power, were taught by a witch from a different family. Hold on, I read about it this morning." Sifting through the pile of books she had been digging through hours before, she pulled out the only documentation on the one evil witch in her family, Charlotte. It didn't take her long to find the passage from the beginning that she had been thinking of, "Ah, here it is. 'Charlotte is just now coming into her powers, mother said that her visions will give way to her full ability, that she will be a witch. As she begins to transition from being a psychic to a witch she will being to take lessons from Fiona Mohr. The Mohr family has been teaching the witches in our bloodline for generations.'"

Sam nodded, "I've found a few other mention of Mohr witches. Their family has not only been working with the witches in your line, but also a few of the other women who held only specific abilities."

Dean walked over to Ana and grabbed the book out of her hands, skimming over the words before looking up at her, "So we're just supposed to find a witch from the Mohr line and hope that whoever it is will come teach you to control your magic?"

"If we can find a living descendant they won't be able to say no. There was a pact made in blood between Sarah Good and Steven Mohr, forever linking the two families' magic. Once a Mohr witch is introduced to a Good witch they are succumbed with the need to help." She told him with a shrug, "I don't get it, sounds kind of weird to me, but that's what the book says."

With a toss, the book landed with a thud on the table and Dean sighed, "How in the hell are we supposed to find a witch from that bloodline anyway? Their last name has probably changed just like your family's did."

"I considered that too." Ana sat down on top of the table, crossing her legs underneath her, "Even if their last name didn't change there has got to be more than one family with that name in the world. So I was thinking that maybe Castiel might be able to locate one? Don't angles have a bunch of abilities? I figure tracking down a witch shouldn't be that difficult for him."

Dean watched her carefully for a moment, in the oversized knitted grey sweater and black leggings she was wearing with her hair in a crazy pile on top of her head she looked so much like her mother. He sighed, praying that this would all work out, "I'm not sure if he'll be able to find one or not, but we can ask." Turning to his brother he raised an eyebrow, "Did he leave after you sent us to our rooms, father?"

Sam rolled his eyes, "Yes, he left. Didn't say what he was doing, you know how he is."

"Alright, well I'll go call him. See if he can track down a Mohr." Much to his dislike a thought crossed his mind, "Sam, why don't you start training her. She's going to need to know more than just magic." He left the room, trusting his brother to begin his daughter's training, there were other things for him to focus on.

Ana spun around on the table so she was facing Sam, "He's so not happy with this." she commented.

He scoffed, "That's an understatement." he reached over and patted her knee affectionately, "But he'll get over it. One day he'll understand that there really wasn't any other course of action." Leaning back in his chair, he seemed to be contemplating something, "How much do you know about the things we've gone up against? I'm assuming that you caught on to general hunter knowledge via your visions."

"I know enough I think. Ghosts, werewolves, shifters, vampires, demons, those I know, but the ones you two encountered less of I don't have much on." She answered, thinking back to all of the monsters she saw in her visions. "I figure for now I mainly need to focus on demons, since they're what's coming after me at the moment."

With a nod, Sam stood up, "That's good enough for now, we need to get you some practice in hand to hand combat."

Her face scrunched up at his words, "I'm going to be covered in bruises."

"You've got to learn some how." he chuckled, "Come on, let's get started. Maybe we'll get lucky and by the time we're done Cas will have found you a witch mentor."

"When have Winchesters ever been lucky?" she joked dryly as she got off of the table to follow him. Part of her was more than excited to be training, she had always wanted to learn how to fight, but she also knew that it wasn't going to be fun. By the time they were done she knew she would be sore and tired.

-A-

Dean had walked to the garage to try and get a hold of Castiel, hoping that Sam training her would keep Ana busy enough for him to go over his plan with the angel. When Cas didn't answer his phone, he tried praying, "Cas, look, I know you've been doing a bunch of back and forth, but I need some help."

"You know I don't mind helping you, Dean." Castiel spoke when he appeared in front of his friend, "Have you calmed down after your argument with Anastasia?"

Dean frowned, "Not completely, but if it keeps her here then I'm going to go along with it. Until it gets too dangerous that is." he sighed, "Apparently there's another line of natural witches that help the ones in Ana's family when they come in to their powers, think you could track one down?"

"A Mohr witch?" Castiel nodded, "I heard about them while I was digging around for information in Heaven and actually already went about finding the closest living descendant."

"Of course you did. Where is she at?" He asked, rubbing his temples, this witch stuff was giving him a major headache.

"He," Castiel corrected, "is in Louisiana. I can go retrieve him if you'd like."

 _It had to be a guy._ The thought made Dean scowl, "Yeah, but don't bring him back here, I want to talk to this guy first. Meet me at the diner in town? When you get to him, just tell him there's a Good witch that needs his help, I don't want him knowing anything more until I talk to him first."

Castiel nodded and disappeared. Dean shook his head as he climbed into the Impala, wanting to beat the angel and the witch to the diner. He grabbed his phone and sent Sam a quick text, _Running an errand. Be back soon._ Before he could change his mind on the whole situation, he started the engine and pulled out of the garage.

It didn't take him long to drive to the diner he had instructed Cas to meet him at, that was part of the reason he liked it so much, plus the food was amazing. Sadly he wouldn't be enjoying any of the food this visit, he didn't actually plan on going inside, too many witnesses in case he needed to put some fear into the witch he was meeting. Not long after he'd parked and stepped out of his car he heard the sound of wings, turning to see Cas and a guy that didn't look much older than Ana standing next to him.

"That was not what I was expecting." The guy muttered as he looked wide-eyed at Castiel before glancing around the parking lot, "I thought I was meeting a witch? Not a hunter." he commented, thick southern drawl coating his words.

"First you have to get passed the interview." Dean gave him a tight smirk, "You understand why you've been brought here?"

The guy brushed a hand through his short black hair, "No, I let your angel buddy bring me here because I thought it would be a good time." he shook his head, "It's been generations since the Good line has produced a witch, my family has been waiting for the next one to appear. Now, do I get to meet her or are you going to keep me out in the cold?" he wrapped his light, black denim jacket closer to his torso.

Dean glared at him before turning to Cas, "Wanna check him out for me?" he questioned, hoping that his friend would understand what he was asking him to do.

Castiel gave a curt nod, before facing the witch and placing two fingers to his forehead, digging through his thoughts and memories, "His intentions seem to be entirely for her good. He himself is not wholly good, but I don't see any blatant evil either."

"Woah, how about next time you ask before you invade my mind, alright?" the witch glared at the two men, "It's been my family's job to teach the Good line since it existed." he circled around the car until he was standing in front of Dean, "Are you going to let me help or not? If she doesn't learn to control her powers as they come along she will quickly become dangerous to anyone around her."

"What's your name?" Dean asked, knowing that he needed to trust what Cas saw for the well being of Ana.

The witch extended his hand, "Connor Mohr." he introduced himself with a grin.

"Dean Winchester." he shook Connor's hand quickly before dropping it, no matter what Cas said, he still wasn't fully trusting of the kid in front of him.

"Ah, the infamous Dean Winchester. Well, if this isn't a little unnerving." Connor shoved his hands into the pockets of his blue jeans, "And may I ask why you have a Good descendant in your care?"

He shook his head, "You will be given information as I see fit. Come on, I'm freezing and there's really no need to be wasting any more time." he turned to Cas, "Thanks for the help. Can you stick around or do you have other stuff to take care of?"

Castiel looked between the two men, being able to sense Dean's unease about the situation, "I can stay with you." he answered, opening the door to the Impala and climbing in the passenger seat.

"Get in, Connor. I'll take you to meet your new witch buddy." Dean instructed, as he got in himself. Once everyone was settled in, he pulled away from the dinner and headed back toward the bunker.

Connor cleared his throat from the back seat, "So do I get any information at all on the witch I'm meeting?" he asked, feeling a bit nervous to be in the presence of Dean Winchester, there were stories about how much he disliked witches. Hence his utter confusion at the information that the man in the driver's seat seemed to be protecting this Good witch.

"No." Dean stated simply, glancing at him in the rearview mirror. "You make one wrong move around her and I will end you." he warned.

The witch shook his head, blue eyes rolling, "What is it going to take to convince you that all I want to do is help her? I may not be the best witch moral wise, but I've been preparing for this possibility my whole life. It's an honor in my family to be the one to help a Good witch."

Dean didn't respond as he continued to drive, hoping that Connor was telling the truth, but only for the sake of his daughter. His jaw clenched as he pulled into the garage and he quickly parked the car before turning to look at the witch behind him, "There are going to be two hunters and an angel here the entire time you are, I want you to keep that in mind." he warned again before getting out of the car.

As Connor stepped out of the car his eyes widened, "How old is she?" he questioned, "She's extremely powerful, I thought you said she had just come in to her powers?" he aimed the last question at the angel that had brought him there.

"She has." Castiel answered, "Can you sense her?"

"Sense her?" Connor scoffed, "Her power is vibrating this whole place, it's almost tangible."

Dean sighed, "Great." he muttered, walking toward the door that led to the main hall. "Come on, Gandalf, let's get this over with."

Connor followed quickly behind him, "I'm a witch, not a wizard." he corrected as they walked down the hall, he could feel that they were getting closer to where the witch was, the intensity of her power growing as they entered the library where a tall man and a girl sat at a large table.

"Dean?" Sam questioned, raising an eyebrow at the stranger who walked into the room behind his older brother.

Ana turned in her chair, looking at the three men that had come in to the room. She stood up slowly, eyebrow raised at the extremely attractive man standing next to her father and Castiel. Jet black hair, bright blue eyes, and a jawline that could cut diamonds, add that on top of the bad boy/ biker look he was sporting with the tight jeans, white tee shirt, and denim jacket and she instantly wished they had met when they weren't surrounded by her family.

"Meet Connor Mohr." Dean jerked his head toward the witch, "Turns out he wasn't that hard to track down as we thought."

Connor moved away from Dean to stand in front of the young witch, eyes squinting in concentration as he reached out toward her power with his own, only to be swatted away by it. "You are extremely gifted." he commented, his eyes staring into her green ones.

"Thanks?" she questioned, glancing around him at her father before she looked back at him.

Sam stood up, "Are we sure he's on our side?" he questioned, remembering most of the witches they crossed as being evil.

Ana nodded, "He is." she glanced at her uncle, "Don't tell me how I know, but he's not going to hurt any of us. Are you, Connor?"

"Are you kidding?" he asked as if the notion itself was crazy, "You could crush me with the amount of power you have. Honestly I'm just excited to help you learn to control it. You're going to be a force to be reckoned with, darling."

"Woah! You do not get to call her that!" Dean snapped, scowling.

Connor glanced over his shoulder at the angry man, "Well no one has informed me of her name yet, so…"

"Anastasia," she extended her hand, "It's nice to meet you, please excuse my overbearing father."

"I am not overbearing." "He's your dad?!" Dean and Connor spoke at the same time, glanced at each other, and then turned their attention back to Ana.

She raised an eyebrow at both of them, "So, what's the plan here? We meet a few times, you teach me a couple of tricks and I'm good to go?" she directed the question at Connor.

The question made him pause and frown slightly, "You weren't prepared for this at all were you? Didn't anyone in your family teach you about this?"

"The only one left other than myself is my aunt and I highly doubt that she knew anything about any of this witch stuff." Ana explained.

Connor nodded, "That would answer why you didn't contact me sooner. The other witches in your family started their training when the visions started. When _did_ the visions start?"

She sighed, pulling her hair out of the bun it was in on top of her head and running her fingers through it, trying to keep herself calm, "About three and a half months ago."

"Months?" shock clear in his tone, his eyes followed her hand as it brushed through her long hair, "It normally takes years before the transition happens. Why is yours happening so fast?"

Dean watched as they spoke, noticing the way Connor watched Ana, "I was actually kind of hoping you would have an idea why." he cut in.

With a shrug Connor turned so he could see everyone in the room, "I've never heard of something like this happening in her bloodline. In my own it's normal for each witch to slowly come into their power the older we get, we're born with it, but the Good line is different. The visions set in anywhere between sixteen to twenty-two years of age and then it takes at least two more before their full powers settle." he informed them, looking at each one before his eyes settled on her, "Do you mind if I try something, Anastasia?"

"Call me Ana… and that depends on what you want to try." she answered, not sure what to make out of the other witch.

Her response made Connor chuckle and damn if it wasn't one of the sexiest things Ana had seen, "It's nothing bad, I promise. I'd just like to better understand of your magic and I can only do that by using my own magic. It won't hurt you in any way, though it is a bit uncomfortable."

Ana thought about it a moment, if he could understand her magic, then he could help her understand it, which was why he was even there in the first place. "How does it work?" she wanted to know exactly what she was signing up for before she agreed to it.

"It's a minor spell. The jist of it is you have to allow me to access your… soul for the lack of a better term, the place where your magic resides." Connor tried to explain, but it was like speaking a different language to a witch without any previous knowledge of magic. "Think of it as a distant cousin to what angel boy over there can do…"

"Castiel." she interrupted, not comfortable with the nickname 'angel boy'.

Connor paused, confused, "What?"

"The angel's name is Castiel." Ana clarified as if he should have understood already.

"Oookay… So… Castiel can touch you and use his power to see inside of your mind and body, right? Angel power? What I want to do is similar, but instead of just taking the information, you have to allow me to see it. With magic as strong as yours, if someone tried to do this with you and you didn't want it, you could probably kill them." He finished, hoping that he explained it clear enough.

Dean walked over to them, "So she has to allow you into wherever it is her witchy mojo lives, but once you get in what does that mean? Can you control her once you've found it?" his face was stern, there was unease rolling off of him in waves.

"Dean, calm down." Ana told him softly.

Both of his eyebrows shot up, "Calm down? Dude wants to Vulcan mind meld with you and you want me to calm down?" He snapped, crossing his arms over his chest, glaring at his daughter, "If you're going to do this I want to know exactly what's happening at all times. I'm going to be _overbearing."_ He mimicked her use of the word.

"No, now you're just being an ass." she muttered before turning her attention back to Connor, "I'm going to assume that even if you did want to control me for whatever delusional reason Dean has thought up that you wouldn't be able to? Seeing as how I have to let you in makes me think you brainwashing me isn't a likely possibility."

Connor's blue eyes glanced quickly back and forth between the two Winchesters in front of him, "Honestly, if you were any other witch I could implant ideas within you for my own agenda, if I even had one…" he trailed off, sighing as he looked her directly in the eyes, "Though I'm not happy with admitting this, you are more powerful than I am, my magic wouldn't stand a chance against yours if I tried something like that. Hell, I tried to feel you out and I got swatted away like a fly."

"You what?" Dean and Sam both snapped simultaneously.

Ana's pursed her lips in thought, ignoring the question, "I think I felt that, but I didn't consciously 'swat' you away." she thought for a moment, "Come to think about it most of the so called magic I've been doing hasn't been done with a conscious thought."

"Then we need to work quickly on your training, if you're not controlling simple things like that there's no telling what else you could do by accident." Connor warned her, "With how powerful you are, it's going to take a while for you to get a strong grip on it, but once you do have it, you shouldn't have to worry about losing control again."

A calm concentration took over her expression, "Alright, let's get started." Ana slowly turned to look at her father, "I get control of my power and I'm going to…" her voice trailed off as she was thrown into a vision so strong be body began to tremble and she was swaying on her feet.

Connor quickly reached out and grabbed her before she fell to the floor, but the moment their skin was touching he was somehow pulled into the vision she was seeing. Holding her close, he lowered himself to the floor before he was just as lost as she was in what they were seeing.

 _It began with a Ana standing in a room full of demons, Barbas standing in front of her with a smirk on his face, he clearly thought he had won. There were demons behind him holding back Dean and Sam, both battered and bloody, they watched as Barbas made to put his hands on Ana. Suddenly there was a blinding white light that flooded the entire room and painful screams from every demon in the room. Once the light finally cleared, Sam and Dean were no longer being held back, Barbas was on the floor at Ana's feet… dead, along with every other demon that had been standing minutes before._ There was a strange static that she hadn't experienced before and then they were both tossed into a different vision. _At first Ana wasn't sure what was going on, she was watching herself from across the room of some cheap motel room and when what she was seeing finally became clear, she could only stare wide eyed. There were clothes thrown everywhere and another body in bed with her, tangled in the sheets. As the bodies rolled she got a clear view of the man in bed with her… Connor._

The girl sucked in a deep breath once she was back to seeing the room she was actually in, fully clothed, laying in Connor's arms. "Well that wasn't awkward." she mumbled and pushed herself away from him, cheeks red.

"What'd you see?" Dean asked and it wasn't until he spoke that Ana realized they were surrounded by her family. Reaching down, he took her arm and pulled her to her feet, not liking how Connor was looking at her once they came out of the vision.

Ana rubbed her hands over her face, putting as much space between herself and Connor (who was just now standing up off of the floor) as she could, "Uh… we were surrounded by demons, captured, and I… uh…"

"Took out the entire group single handedly without raising a finger?" Connor finished for her, an eyebrow raised.

Sam and Dean exchanged a look before turning their attention to Ana, "What's so awkward about that?" Sam asked.

"What?" She responded, brushing a hand through her red hair as she moved to sit on the table, it was quickly becoming her favorite place to sit.

"When you rejoined the real world, you said 'well that wasn't awkward' in your usual sarcastic way. So what was so awkward about you taking out a demon?" Dean pushed for an answer, wondering why her cheeks seemed to grow a shade of darker red at his words.

Connor cleared his throat, a devilish grin spreading across his lips as he watched the girl fluster, "She wasn't referring to the demon killing."

"What were you _referring_ to, Anastasia?" Dean demanded, knowing the look on the boy's face, he had made it himself many a time.

Ana jumped off of the table, "There are some things you just don't need to know, dad." she assured him, walking toward the room's exit.

"Don't think that pulling the 'dad' card is going to distract me." He all but growled at her, "Where are you going?"

She grabbed a still grinning Connor by the sleeve of his jacket, "I'm going to go Vulcan mind meld with Connor." was her only response as she pulled the witch behind her.

"Is that what we're going to call it?" He asked in a low teasing tone.

Ana stopped dead in her tracks and spun on him, slapping his arm, "We are not calling _that_ anything, bring it up again and I will make your life hell."

"Do not go in your room!" Dean stared at them both, not being able to hear their quiet conversation.

"Oh, calm down, Dean." Ana spoke up, "I'm just going to take him into the training room, I figure this sort of thing would be easier to do without three sets of prying, judging eyes." she explained, turning back around to head toward the smallish room her and Sam had used earlier for their sparring session that she was still sore from.

Connor followed quietly behind her, still grinning to himself at how embarrassed she seemed to be by the second vision they shared. In all honesty, it didn't phase him much, he had been drawn to her the moment he felt her power. Then he saw her red hair and green eyes, she was captivating to say the least. As he thought about it, his eyes roamed over her body, barely stopping when she opened the door to a room and stood aside so he could come in.

"Do we need anything to do this spell?" She questioned once she shut the door behind them, having no doubt that Dean or Sam (or both) would walk down the hall to check on them at some point.

Looking around the room, Connor shook his head, thankful that it was mostly empty other than a couple of mats on the floor and some weights in the corner. "No, the spell doesn't require any ingredients, just a couple of witches and some fancy dead language." he told her, eyes landing on her's. "Are you ready to do this?"

Ana ran a nervous hand through her hair, trying to clear her mind of the vision, but it just kept playing on a loop in her head. "As ready as I'll ever be." she finally answered.

"Good enough." he sat down cross legged on the floor, "You're going to want to sit down in front of me." he directed as he pulled of his jacket, setting it on the ground next to him. Watching as she moved just a little closer and then sat down, he smiled, noticing the space she continued to try and keep between them. Placing his hands on her knees, he dragged her until their legs were touching, "We have to be touching for this to work. You can't get all shy on be just because one of your visions showed us…"

"We are not talking about that." She interrupted. "Tell me what I need to do."

Connor smiled, "Your part is easy. You just need to focus, remember that you have to let me in so don't get nervous and freak out otherwise you could hurt me. I'll do the rest, alright?"

Ana nodded, already feeling nervous. There was no other choice though, she needed to trust the witch sitting in front of her otherwise she wouldn't learn anything and would probably accidently hurt someone she cared about.

Connor reached for her hands, laying one palm up on her knee and placing his over it, then placed his hand palm up on his own knee, "Cover my hand with yours." he instructed, letting his teasing tone from earlier fade. Magic wasn't something to be toyed with, this was a serious matter and he needed her to understand that though he liked to have his fun, when it came to teaching her he wasn't joking around. When she covered his hand with her own, he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, "Now you need to calm yourself, relax and I'll do everything else." he reminded her as he began to chant softly.

Watching him a moment, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath like he had, using it to calm herself down and to focus on letting him in, she didn't want to hurt him. When he started to chant she could feel a tingle across her palms that slowly moved up her arms, she was beginning to associate the odd feeling with magic. It happened before each of her visions, it happened before she killed the demon a few nights ago, and now it was happening as she felt Connor searching inside of her for it's source.

His chanting continued for a while before she felt him pull away with his magic, his chanting stopping suddenly. When she opened her eyes, he was giving her a strange look, eyes focused on her own. "What is it?" Ana asked, the silence driving her crazy.

For a minute it didn't seem like he was going to respond, but then he moved quickly. Snaking a hand around her neck while uttering what must have been a small spell and then pulling her toward him, pressing his lips to her's. He lingered there a moment as a soft white light transfered from her chest to her lips then to his lips and to his chest.

Ana was frozen for a long moment before she pushed him away from her, "What the hell was that?" she snapped, standing up quickly and moving away from him.

"That was completely necessary." He defended himself as he stood up, "Ana, you are so much more powerful than you understand. There's too much magic in you and if you don't start releasing a little of it every few days it's going to consume you. It will kill you." his explanation was hurried, not wanting her to be angry with him.

She visibly paled, "What did you do? It wasn't just a kiss, I could feel the spell."

Connor sighed and crossed the room to her slowly, "It was a sort of energy transfer. If I wouldn't have taken some of it from you it wouldn't have taken long for it to take you out." he frowned, trying to think of a way to explain it to her. "Think of it like a water well that's constantly being filled. If someone doesn't come often enough with a couple of buckets to take from it. the water overflows. In this scenario you are the well and your magic is the water. If the water overflows the well crumbles."

"The white light…" she thought out loud, "What we saw in my vision, the first one, I've done that before on a much smaller scale. Was that the sort of energy transfer I need?"

Rubbing a hand across the small stubble on his chin he thought before nodding, "In theory yes, but for it to be that large you would have to be on the brink of holding too much magic in."

"Would I still continue to 'overflow' after that or would it be big enough that we could somehow find a way for it to stop building up?" Her mind was racing with possibilities, if they were on the right track she may just have the answers to more than one of her problems.

Connor squinted at her, completely lost at the direction she was taking the conversation, "There's a chance that we may be able to stop it, but by doing that there may also be the risk that we cut off your magic completely."

At that she frowned. Ana hadn't been looking forward to being a witch, the idea still scared her, but now that she was already handling it, the idea of living without it made her uncomfortable. "Well we need to figure it out fast. I have a demon to kill." she told him with a sly grin. Now the only thing standing in her way was clueing in Dean and Sam on her plan.

 _A/N(2): Boom! More drama. It'll wind down once all of the mess with Barbas is taken care of. I would love reviews guys! Let me know what you think of Connor so far, we'll be digging a bit more into his background in coming chapters. What canon character's do you want me to bring in, let me know! As always, thanks for reading :)_


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: Hey there! Going to be quick and to the point with this note so you guys can get to the story! Giant thank yous to everyone who recently followed, warms my heart everytime I see a new one! Thanks to Michelle for the review; I promise I'm posting as fast as I can! Also shout out to Rubyrose: I'm glad it didn't come off as obvious, I really wanted it to be a surprise!_

 _Enjoy!_

"You want to what?!" Dean yelled, pushing back the chair he had been sitting in and moving away from the table. When Connor and Ana had come back from their magic lesson, Ana asked for everyone to sit down so they could talk. After explaining that if she didn't start getting rid of some of her magic that it would eventually kill her, she pulled this idea out like it wasn't extremely dangerous.

"Dean, it's a good idea." Connor told him, still not completely informed on the demon situation, but Ana had explained enough for him to understand her plan.

Sam sat across the table from the two young witches, glaring at them both, but not saying a word. His brother had control of this argument, he just wanted them to both understand that he didn't like the idea either.

"Stay out of this, Harry Potter." Dean snapped, moving around the table until he was standing next to his daughter's chair, "What level of delusional do you think I am? Did you honestly think that I would be okay with this plan? Not only are you putting yourself in danger by giving yourself up to Barbas, but you want to let your power build up to the point where it could kill you if you don't act at the right exact moment. No. No way in hell. I will lock you up in here before I even consider your suicide plan."

Ana stood up from her chair, not afraid to face off against Dean, "I had that vision for a reason! It's a good plan. We need to take out Barbas and his groupies, that's the only solution to me being a damn human sacrifice, and I would like to do that soon so I can leave the bunker at some point in time. It would be nice to have some semblance of a normal life!"

"We can find a different way to take out Barbas." Sam pointed out, "We're not going to keep you locked up in here forever, Ana. There's a better way to go about killing this demon and we're going to find it."

She clenched her jaw as she turned her attention from her father to her uncle, "We've been looking for days, Sam! Unless we want to chance completing the ritual and us getting our asses handed to us, this is our best and only option!"

Connor watched as the Winchesters fought, glad for the moment that he and his family were never close so moments like this never happened. As Ana continued to argue her idea, he could feel her magic reacting to her emotions, "Ana, you need to calm down." he told her softly, standing to move to her side, "You're magic reacts to strong emotion."

Choosing to ignore whatever Connor was saying, Ana continued to push her point, "I can do this, Dean. My vision was proof of that!"

"What part of 'not going to happen' are you not understanding, Anastasia?!" He demanded, "What you're thinking of doing is everything I've ever wanted to keep away from you and you think because you had some vision I'm just going to step aside and let you do whatever it is you want?"

"Dean…" Connor tried to interrupt, her magic was building, if she didn't calm down it would lash out.

Dean glared at him, "Shut up!"

Connor let out a frustrated noise before shouting out in an old language, his hands moving through the air at the same time, making a sort of cut off motion. Ana spun on him, ready to say something, but when she opened her mouth no sound came out. "I've taken away your voices." he informed them, "Obviously just talking to you bunch wasn't getting me anywhere." he grumbled as he closed the space between himself and Ana, placing his hands on her shoulders, "You need to calm down, right now. If you don't your magic will lash out in some not so friendly way. You don't want to hurt anyone in this room do you?" Her eyes flicked to Dean, glaring at him a moment before she looked back to the witch in front of her, shaking her head in response. "Okay, then you need to control your anger. Take a couple of deep breaths and relax."

His hands remained on her shoulders and she closed her eyes, breathing deeply and forcing herself to calm down as much as she could. When she opened her eyes, she gave him a slight nod to let him know she was okay. Dropping his hands, he turned to look at Dean, "Look. I get that you're trying to protect her, she's your daughter, that's your right… but you have to understand that she is the most powerful witch I have ever come across. Even if we somehow clamp down the amount of power that is drawn to her, she will still be more powerful than most could imagine. At least think about that before you continue to treat her like a child."

Ana placed a hand on Connor's shoulder, forcing him to stop talking. When she had his attention she gestured to her mouth and gave him a questioning look. With a quick nod, he snapped his fingers, returning their voices. "Thank you." she told him softly, dropping her hand and looking at her father, who was still glaring at Connor.

"You're pushing your luck, buddy." Dean warned, his jaw clenched tight as he looked down at Ana, "You are not going up against Barbas, end of story. Sam and I have already started working on a plan, just have a little more patients and this will all be over." he moved back around the table and grabbed his jacket off of the chair he had been sitting in.

"Where are you going?" Ana asked, raising an eyebrow, knowing his answer before she asked.

Dean patted Sam on the shoulder, "Sam and I are going to go have a couple of drinks. You and Dumbledore can continue to work on your witchy crap while we're gone." once again moving around the table, he stopped in front of Connor, "Everything better stay PG while we're gone. I will know if it doesn't." he warned.

"Whatever you say, boss." Connor smirked, holding back a laugh.

"Come on, Sam!" Dean snarled, spinning on his heel and walking out of the room.

The younger Winchester looked between Ana and Connor before grabbing his own jacket off of his chair, "Please behave while we're gone. Call if you need anything." he directed the latter words at his niece before hurrying to catch up with his older brother. "You're just going to leave them here? Alone? After the look they each had on their faces after whatever they saw in that vision?"

Dean scoffed, "If I don't leave now I'll probably kill him and seeing as how we need him around to keep Ana's magic in check, I'd rather not do that… yet" he explained as they walked into the garage, "Plus, you should have seen the look on his face when I introduced myself to him earlier. He knows what I can do if he screws something up." Sam merely shook his head in response and got into the Impala.

-A-

Silence filled the room after the brothers' departure, Connor noticed a slight blush on Ana's cheeks, she seemed so easy to embarrass and it was adorable… as adorable as an incredibly powerful witch could get. "So… is over the shirt stuff considered PG?" he teased, a playful glint in his eyes.

"Seriously, drop it." Ana warned, turning around quickly to head for the kitchen. "It's never going to happen!" she called over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of the smirk he had while following her.

The small chuckle that he emitted gave her goosebumps, "Now, I know visions aren't always one hundred percent accurate, we make different decisions and change the course we're on yadda yadda yadda…" he moved faster to catch up to her, walking directly behind her, "but I don't think that's something I would willingly change." he whispered some what seductively.

Picking up her pace she tried to get away from him, but that was hard to do when his legs were longer than her own, "You can just drop that act right now, Connor, it's not going to work." a small relieved smile playing on her lips when they reached the kitchen and she could put the metal island in the center of the room between them. Being around him made her nervous, which wasn't something Ana was used to feeling. Normally she was all hips and a flirtatious smile, something she most likely got from Dean. As the thought struck her, she made herself take a deep breath, no matter how attractive the man in front of her was, she wasn't going to let him get the best of her, "Plus," she grinned and tilted her head to the side slightly, "two can play at that game."

Circling the table, he tried to make his way over to her, but she matched his pace, keeping the distance between them even, "Oh, Anastasia, I would love to see you play that game." he smiled at her, giving her a wink before he stopped walking, "Sadly we need to focus on your magic first and foremost. Then once I'm sure you're not going to accidently hurt me or kill over we can play that game as long as you want."

With a soft laugh she shook her head, "Fine, what's our first lesson, Dumbledore?" she asked with a sweet smile, thinking that Dean's jab at him from earlier was pretty funny.

Connor rolled his eyes, "Please don't let that name stick around." he mumbled, "We need to start with the simple stuff. Meditation to help strengthen your control, basic knowledge of herbs, general understanding of the power within you." he explained, moving around the island to stand in front of her, "This isn't going to go by quickly, magic takes time to learn and as strong as your's is it might take a little longer than normal."

"How long are we talking here?" She cocked her hip to the side, hand resting on it as she looked up at him. Her neck was going to get sore from all of the looking up she had to do, why did most men have to be so freaking tall, specifically the four she spent most of her time with. Castiel was the shortest of the bunch and she still had to look up slightly at him.

His eyes flicked down to where her hand rested and then back up, an amused look lingering there, "With the rest of your line it took over a year, sometimes closer to two."

She squinted up at him, "So I'm stuck with you for that long?"

"Afraid so, I'm sure we can work out a way to relieve our frustrations without killing each other." He offered, grinning.

Ana turned around, moving away from the witch and toward the refrigerator, she needed more space between them… he was going to be so much trouble. Dean was going to hate this. "Want anything to drink?" she changed the subject, grabbing herself a bottle of water.

Walking up behind her, basically pressing himself to her back, he looked into the fridge, "Water will be fine." he answered in a hushed tone, reaching over her shoulder to grab a bottle.

"I do believe Dean's instructions included no touching unless required for your learning of witchcraft, Anastasia." Castiel's voice carried across the room, making the pair both jump.

Ana moved away from Connor and looked at the angel who was standing at the doorway, "Dammit, Cas! I thought you left."

"Would that have changed how you were just now interacting with the male witch?" he questioned, borrow scrunched together.

She rolled her eyes at him, "No, but it would have been nice to know that you were still here so that you didn't scare me into having a heart attack." she explained, taking in a couple deep breaths to calm down.

Castiel simply nodded, "I did not mean to scare you. I apologize."

"Where were you anyway? You missed the big Winchester showdown." Connor informed him, moving to sit down at the small table against a wall.

"Winchester showdown?" The angel was clearly confused, "I was doing a little more digging on Barbas. His fraction has been making a lot of movement lately, I have the feeling that they're ready to act on whatever plan it is to get you in his clutches."

Ana paled slightly, "Ready to act in a few days…? Or like they're ambushing some very close family members as we speak and plan on using them as bait?" the sudden images of Sam and Dean bloodied and beaten resurfacing from her memory.

Castiel took a minute to understand her question, "I would guess they will be moving on their plan sometime tonight."

"Cas, go find my dad and Sam." She told him quickly, before turning to look at Connor. "My vision…"

Connor nodded, following her train of thought, "We should move now."

Nodding, she turned to see Castiel still standing there, "I said go! If those demons are making a move it's going to be on them, not me. Now go before they end up dead!" she ordered, moving around him and hurrying toward her bedroom. She didn't waste any time flinging the door open and heading toward where she'd left her boots. Once they were on she walked over to the nightstand by her bed and grabbed her pistol.

Connor rounded the corner as she dropped the magazine to make sure it was still loaded with devil trap rounds. "How do you plan on finding them?" he questioned, curious. As a witch his first step would have been a tracking spell, but he figured she had a different plan.

"The moment I walk out of this bunker Barbas is going to know." She slammed the magazine back into the gun and looked up at him, "I'm assuming there are already a couple of demons outside waiting for me."

He nodded, her theory made sense, but the next words out of his mouth didn't, "I'm coming with you."

The girl paused as she raised an eyebrow at him, "Why?" she questioned, there was no reason for him to, her vision clearly predicted what was going to happen. The end result would be two sore Winchester men, a bunch of dead demons, and some strange magic that Ana still didn't quite understand.

With no logical answer, Connor didn't respond for a minute, why did he want to go with her? "You shouldn't have to do this alone." he finally settled on, "And if things go south and for some reason you can't nuke the demons I figure you could use another able body on your side."

"You weren't in my vision, Connor… not the first half at least. What if you being there changes the course of things? My family and I could get seriously hurt." She voiced her worry to him. The thought of having the witch on their side in a fight against demons did make her feel a bit better, but she wouldn't chance the outcome if it caused something to go wrong.

Connor thought about it. "Go without me. I'll track where they take you and keep my distance until you've handled everything. If it doesn't happen and I see signs of a struggle, I'll still be able to help." he offered, for a reason he didn't understand himself he didn't want her to go alone.

There was a moment's hesitation before she nodded, "Fine, but you don't barge in unless there's no freakish blinding light and a fight has broken out. Otherwise you wait until the light is gone." a thought hit her as she was getting ready to walk out of the room and her eyes went wide. "Shit! I didn't see Castiel in my vision."

"I didn't either… and you just sent him to help." He realized why she looked so worried.

"I have to go now." Seeming to unfreeze and she quickly moved toward the door, having to walk past him.

There was a tug on her hand, making her stop before she reached the hallway. Spinning she saw that Connor had grabbed her hand and was holding it, "Be careful." he said simply before letting her go, knowing that she needed to hurry in case Castiel's appearance in the situation would change it for the worse.

Giving him a small nod, she turned and quickly made her way down the hall and toward the garage, it's large door leading outside being the closest exit and there really wasn't any time to waste. Once she'd reached the large door she paused to take a deep breath, she was about to hand herself over to a demon… a demon who would then take her to a different, higher ranking demon that wanted to use her as a blood sacrifice. As her hand wrapped around the latch that held the old door in place, she began her mental pep talk. _You can do this. Don't let them scare you. You are a Winchester, you aren't scared of a damn demon._ Quickly she opened the door, pushing it up toward the ceiling and stepped out once it was done moving.

Night had set in not long ago and the fall air was chilly, though she was only wearing the oversized sweater and leggings that she'd had on all day so the breeze was biting in to her skin. A few minutes passed and nothing happened, there was no movement that she could see, no sounds and that made her uneasy, "Come on! I know you're out here somewhere, come claim your prize." she called into the night in true Winchester fashion.

"Well, well, well," A sly female voice spoke to her right in a thicket of trees. Slowly the body that had produced the voice came into view, making Ana tense slightly. With long black hair as dark as her eyes and a pale complexion, the only thing the red headed witch could think of was a bad representation from a cheesy C-class movie. "Little Anastasia Walker has come out to play."

"Winchester." Ana corrected, turning to face the demon, knowing very well that there was some sort of mind game behind any of the words that would come out of her mouth.

The demon grinned, "Already taking daddy's last name, are we? Don't you think that's a bit needy of you? I mean, you barely know the man, let alone the bad karma that comes with the name."

With a roll of her green eyes, Ana crossed her arms over her chest, holding her pistol in her right hand, "Can we get this over with? I know Barbas has Dean and Sam, I know he's using them to get to me. Well here I am. Take me to him." she snapped.

"A straight to the point kind of gal, I like it." The demon held the same grin, it clearly conveying the message that she thought they had won. "Well then, I won't keep you waiting." she closed the space between them and placed a hand on Ana's shoulder, transporting them from just outside of the bunker to the middle of the room she had seen in her vision.

Looking around, she noticed that it was the large room in some very run down house. The room was empty, no other demons, no Barbas, no Sam and Dean… the last part made her worry. "So where's the welcoming committee? With how important I am to this damn ritual I would have thought there would be some sort of party. Maybe a banner? Confetti would be nice too."

"The guests will be arriving shortly, though I can't guarantee the physical appearance of your gifts will be the best. Shipping and handling can be very rough." The demon commented before turning around, "Ah, just on time. The party has arrived." the words left her mouth as the room began to fill with demons.

Ana watched carefully, taking note of each of the demons faces, she had seen each of them in her vision. The only difference being that not only were her father and uncle being held captive, beaten just like they had been in her vision, but so was Castiel.

Dean's eyes focused on her as he was led around the room, standing against the wall but facing her. "You shouldn't have come, Ana. You should have stayed at the bunker." he told her through gritted teeth.

"Now, now, Dean," the black haired demon that had brought Ana there spoke up, moving over to where he was standing, "Ana's a big girl, she can make her own decisions."

Hidden underneath the drying blood on his face and the fat lip was the still smug look Dean was known for, "I'm going to gut you." he snarled.

She pulled a large knife out of the waist of her pants and aimed it at Dean, "Keep running that mouth Dean and we'll have twice the amount of blood that Barbas needs."

Ana raised the pistol in her hand, aiming it at the back of the demon's head, "You touch him and you're going to have a bullet in your head." she warned, finger on the trigger.

"Well, wasn't that fun to watch?" A familiar voice spoke from behind her, "Kate, back away from Dean. Ana, if you would be so kind as to lower your firearm."

Turning around slowly, Ana came face to face with the demon she had been in hiding from. "Barbas, I'd say it's nice to meet you, but we both know I would be lying." she slowly lowered her arm, knowing that it wouldn't do her much good in the situation, the only thing that could get them out of that particular mess would be her magic.

The man that stood before her was tall, probably about the same height as her father, with almost white blonde hair and eyes that didn't need to turn white for her to understand how powerful he was. Castiel had been right, he may not have the army to back him up like Lilith had, but he was definitely as powerful. "Ah, there's the Winchester mouth. None of you really know when to shut up, do you?" he questioned, walking over to her.

"Don't you lay a hand on her!" Dean threatened, which earned him what looked to be a very painful punch to the stomach by Kate.

Barbas ignored Dean, walking in a slow circle around the girl, touching her hair with a soft hand, "It's sad really that I have to drain you completely, I'd love to keep you around for a pet."

She pivoted on one foot and raised her pistol in one smooth motion, "Just be thankful that I came to you at all. Now let my family go and I won't put up a fight." she bargained. There hadn't been any talking in her vision, just the end product and she wasn't sure how long it was going to take for her power to be ready. If she didn't time it just right, she might only take out half of the demons in the room and then they would still be screwed.

Barbas smirked down at her, "That's not how this works, Anastasia. They're going to stand there and watch while you bleed out. Then once the ritual is over I'm going to kill them too."

There was a brief moment of fear clear in her eyes, but she pushed the emotion away, there simply wasn't any time to be afraid. With a sigh, she lowered the gun again, "I guess there's nothing else I can do, is there?" she feigned defeat, shoulders slumping and gaze falling to the ground, "Can you at least make it quick?"

"Such a brave girl." Barbas muttered, turning his back to her as he looked at the demons around the room, "I will do my best to make it as quick as possible." he lied terribly.

Ana looked up at Sam and Dean, sending a quick wink their way before her attention was back on Barbas, "Can I ask one question?" The tall demon simply nodded as he turned around to look at her, "The ritual calls for the descendant of a witch that escaped death and the child of the true vessel of the oldest archangel, right?"

A quick look of confusion crossed his face, "Correct." he answered, "What's your point?"

The girl laughed, turning to look at the closest demon minion near her, "Here, hold this. I won't be needing it." she held out the gun in her hand, he took it from her with a questioning glance toward his boss. Ana turned back to Barbas, "Can you even comprehend how much power would be residing in such an individual? Not that Dean being Michael's vessel does much for me, though I like to believe that myself being a Winchester and therefore being able to be a vessel for the angel myself has something to do with it. Just the fact that there is Good blood ruining through my veins should scare you enough."

Barbas frowned, "You're just a child, barely a witch. I have nothing to fear from you." he began to walk toward her, tired of whatever game she was playing.

"You are so wrong there buddy." Dean commented from across the room, giving his daughter what he could manage as a smile. She could do this, he had to believe that if for nothing else she could do this to keep herself alive.

There was a large thud that suddenly filled the room and distracted the group. The sound of quick footsteps echoed until Connor was standing in the entrance to the room, he looked at her, eyes wide with fear. The moment he had arrived he could feel her power building, the more she focused on it the quicker it happened and it was on the verge of not only taking out the demons, but killing her as well. "Ana, now!" he instructed her.

With one last smile at the demon who had planned on taking her life and the lives of her family, she tilted her head back and focused on the tingling feeling that had been building inside of her. She let it flow out of her, slamming down whatever wall was keeping it inside and pushing it all out. Without fail the bright white light from her vision filled the room, lingering for a few minutes before fading.

When she opened her eyes it was just as it had been in her vision. Demons were dead all over the floor, her family released from their captors, relief clear on their faces that the threat was gone. Ana lifted a leg to head toward her father, but she stumbled, her body much weaker than she had been expecting. Luckily Connor had already been moving toward her and caught her before she fell to the ground. "You need to rest," he instructed her, holding up most of her weight, "You used a lot of energy doing that."

Dean took her from Connor, wrapping her in a hug and holding her up at the same time, "Thank God you're okay." he told her softly.

"You shouldn't be worried about me. You're the one who looks like you got the crap beat out of you." Ana told him weakly, wrapping her arms around him.

"We kind of did." Sam told her, "We weren't prepared for the attack at all. Which was stupid on our part."

Dean looked at Cas, "Can you take us back to the bunker?" he asked, knowing that he and Sam needed to check their wounds, plus it was clear that Ana was reading to pass out in his arms. Without a word the angel transported them all back to the bunker's library. "Come on, Ana, let's get you to bed."

She pushed herself up and away from him, "I can make it to my room, Dean. You guys get yourselves patched up and I'll see you in a week."

"A week?" Sam questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Between the crappy sleep I've been getting and how much magic I just unleashed, I think I deserve a week of sleep." Ana explained, turning to walk to her room.

Connor cleared his throat, stopping her, "We really need to start working on your lessons. The longer we wait the more dangerous it gets."

She groaned, "Fine! I guess I'll see you guys in the morning." she whined as she left the room, wanting to get as much sleep as she could before one of them woke her up the next day.

Once she was gone, Connor turned to look at the Winchester brothers, "You two want me to work a little magic? I can heal most of your wounds and give the worst of them a jump start." he offered.

They shared a look before looking at Castiel, who only shook his head, "I simply do not have the strength to heal you both in my current state. I took down more demons outside of that house than I thought I was going to have to. Hence the reason why I couldn't take us all out of there while there was still a threat."

"I was wondering about that." Sam commented before looking at Connor, "What kind of magic?" he wanted to know.

The witch sighed, knowing that neither of them trusted him quite yet, "It's a pretty simple spell. Takes away the bruising and the more minor wounds, the larger ones like the cut across Dean's chest and the stab wound on your leg will heal faster. You'll be good as new in a couple of days at the most."

Dean shrugged, "Might as well, go for it, Gandalf." Sam paused, but then nodded in agreement.

"I'm a witch. Not a wizard." Connor reminded Dean, "If you're going to make nerd movie references at least get that right." He walked over to both men, placing the palm of his hand on each of their foreheads. There was a quick spell in what Sam thought was Gaelic and then he stepped back. "Done. Now it's mostly just a bunch of dried blood."

Sam tested out his weight on his injured leg, noticing that it didn't hurt nearly as much. He looked at the cut on Dean's chest and noticed it was nearly healed. "Thanks." he told Connor.

"So you mentioned Ana's lessons…" Dean changed the subject, giving the witch a strange look, "How long does something like that take?"

Connor sighed and took off his jacket, throwing it over the back of a chair, "It's going to take a while. The process is different with every witch, but because she's so powerful it may take a bit longer for her to get full control of it and I won't leave until she does."

"How long?" He asked again.

Connor rolled his blue eyes, "Over a year."

Dean scowled and look at Sam, who only shrugged in response. "God dammit." he swore, turning away from both of them. "We'll talk about this tomorrow!" he told them before leaving the room.

"Sure thing, boss!" Connor called after him, before turning to look at Sam, "So, where will I be staying?" he questioned with a small grin. This was going to be interesting and a damn good story if he lived through it all.


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: You guys seriously make my heart happy! Between the favorites, follows, and amazing reviews I couldn't be more inspired to continue writing this story! Thank you all so much! Shout outs to…_

 _LaceyoftheTypewriter: I had the goofiest smile on my face when I read your review! Along Came Sophie is my favorite Dean/daughter story and knowing that you're enjoying my work as well makes me so happy. Thank you so much!_

 _DracoPotter80: Fear not my dear, there is still a lot to be said in this story! Thank you so much for the lovely review and that you know a similar Connor made me giggle._

 _Here is chapter twelve!_

When Ana finally woke up the next day she was thrilled and a little surprised that no one had woken her up already. She reached out for her phone that sat on her nightstand and hit a button to bring the screen to life. It was only nine in the morning. Pulling herself out of bed she dug around in her drawers for clean clothes, which there wasn't much left of. Initially the plan had been to be gone maybe a week or so, but now knowing that she was going to be there for much longer she needed more clothes… and to call her aunt. _Crap. Heather!_ She groaned and slammed a drawer shut as she thought about her aunt who wouldn't be happy that her niece and only family would be staying away for so long.

She pushed the upsetting thoughts out of her head as she left her room, there would be time to deal with that after a shower and some coffee. Just as she reached her hand out to open the bathroom door it opened from the other side and steam quickly wafted into the hall. Standing there in front of her was Connor, still partially wet from his shower and wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.

"Oh, Ana, good morning." he greeted with a bright smile. "I didn't expect you to be up for a while longer."

Her eyes trailed down his defined chest and stopped when they hit the towel. Quickly looking back to his eyes she raised an eyebrow, shrugging slightly, "Woke up and couldn't go back to sleep." she explained, "Figured I might as well get up and get on with my day."

"Well I guess I'll get out of your way." he stepped around her and into the hallway, "We're going to start working today, better take your time this morning because once we start I'm not one to give breaks."

It was at that exact moment that Dean walked down that part of the hallway. He scowled when he saw Connor basically naked talking to his daughter, "Go put on some clothes!" he ordered, "If you're going to stay here then you need to have clothes on at all times."

The male witch merely smiled, "Yes sir." he said before turning around and walking toward the room he had claimed the night before, which was close to Sam's. The man had made it clear that Connor wouldn't be sleeping anywhere near Ana's room.

"You didn't… do anything with him, did you?" Dean asked when he was standing next to Ana.

She shook her head, red hair whipping back and forth. "First of all, I'm obviously still clothed and dry, so nothing happened just now." she paused looking up at him, "And even if I did it would be none of your business."

"The hell it's not. You're staying with me, which makes it my business." He told her, sternly, "What about yesterday before the big demon showdown? Cas told me what happened in the kitchen."

"Seriously?" She rolled her eyes at him, "Dad, he was standing behind me grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge. I've known the guy all of what? A day? I'm not going to jump him because he thinks he's the world's gift to women. Unlike the women you go after, that kind of act doesn't work on me."

Dean frowned, "Hey! I don't… okay maybe I do, but we're not talking about me right now." he crossed his arms over his chest, demeanor shifting from protective to slightly awkward, "But that does bring up something else we need to talk about."

His quick mood change along with his words confused her, "We really don't need to talk about your conquests in the bedroom."

"What?" He paused, realizing what she thought he wanted to talk about, "No, not that. About this whole… 'dad' thing." he watched her carefully as he broached the subject.

"Oh," she paused, cheeks blushing slightly, "I'm sorry. I'll stop calling you that." It shouldn't have come as a surprise to her that he didn't want to be called that. She should have known that the title would have made someone like Dean Winchester uncomfortable, but the lost little girl inside of her, the one that had wanted nothing but her dad for the longest time, cringed.

"No, Ana, it's not that. I just…" he had never been good with stuff like this and voicing what was on his mind was becoming more difficult than he had planned, "If you want to call me _dad_ that's fine, just no more attitude with it… and no more 'Dean'. It's up to you, I just… I guess I wanted you to know it's okay if that's what you want."

It took her a moment to process what he was saying. She hadn't upset him or made things awkward, well, no more awkward than the conversation they were having. "You don't mind?" was the only thing she could think of to say.

He shook his head, giving her a soft smile, "No, I don't mind. Just think about it, alright? Why don't you shower and then meet us in the kitchen? I'm actually cooking today."

"I get an actual meal? Something that didn't come out of a box or a drive thru window?" she questioned, feigning shock.

With a small laugh he nodded, "Yeah, I figured we successfully took down the first supernatural being that's going to be coming after you, might as well celebrate."

 _The first…_ His words made her pause, "You think there will be more than one?"

Dean unfolded his arms to rest a hand on her shoulder, "Ana you're a Winchester and a witch. I'm assuming those two things paired together are going to make you a target more than once, but you'll be prepared for it if it happens again. You'll get control of your power, Sam and I will teach you some hunting stuff, and you'll be able to take down anything that comes your way." he assured her.

All she could do was nod. She honestly hadn't thought about something else coming after her. What little time she did have to think about it, she just assumed that she would learn whatever Connor could teach her and then stick around to help out with their hunts, or go to school, or both. Being attacked again wasn't something that had crossed her mind.

"You won't be alone in this, Ana. You will always have us." he added before placing a soft kiss on her forehead and turning to head toward the kitchen. Dean had thought about his daughter a lot in the eighteen years since he'd left her mother to raise her alone. He had always wondered what she looked like, how smart she was, what her favorite hobbies were. Never in all of those thoughts did he think that he would ever meet the little girl he had a hand in creating, but now, he couldn't imagine what his life would have been like if he hadn't.

The love that he had for her since the moment he found out only grew the longer they were together. It was the simple things that caught him off guard; how much she looked like her mother at that age yet the small resemblances she had that were all from him, the attitude that was all Winchester, and then that anger that could explode like a firecracker. She wasn't anything like he had ever expected… she was better. The little girl he had always imagined grew up to be a strong young woman, one he was more than proud of, and when she called him 'dad' it made his chest tighten with love and pride.

Ana watched as her father retreated down the hallway, thankful that she had someone as strong as him to help her through the craziness that her life was turning into. Moving into the bathroom, she closed the door behind her and hoped that Connor hadn't used all of the hot water.

-A-

As she entered the kitchen she noticed that she walked in on what seemed to be a very heated conversation between Dean and Connor. "But the threat is gone! She can't learn everything she needs to wholed up down here." Connor brushed a hand through his black hair, clearly agitated.

"I understand that there are things she can't learn down here! What I don't understand is why you think you need to take her three states away for her to do so!" Dean argued back as he grabbed plates out of the cabinet.

Ana cleared her throat as she walked further into the room, looking over to her uncle who was just standing in the corner with a semi-amused look on his face, "Mind filling me in on what this is all about? Since I'm assuming the _she_ you are referring to is me."

Connor turned around on his hair to look at her, "I was trying to explain to Dean that once we get a little further along in your training that it would be wise that I take you to Louisiana for a while. There is a coven there that I've been a part of for years, I think teaching you group magic is just as important as knowing how to do it on your own."

"And you don't think that it's a good idea?" She questioned as she turned her focus to her father, giving him his turn to explain the argument.

"No, I don't." Dean walked over to her, "I don't like the idea of you being that far away from here. Add that on top of the fact that he wants to take you to a freaking coven of witches."

Ana raised an eyebrow at him, "Dad, I'm a witch."

Dean shook his head at her, "Of course I know that, but it's other witches I'm worried about."

"The witches in my coven aren't bad." Connor pointed out.

"I haven't even completely vetted you yet so I'm not going to trust a group of witches I've never met before with the care of my freaking daughter!" He told Connor over his shoulder before turning his attention back to Ana, "This isn't going to happen."

Ana patted him on the shoulder, "Why don't we talk about this more when the time comes? It will probably be a while before I'm ready to do anything with a group, so right now let's just focus on what I need to do now. Deal?" she questioned the two angry men, looking between them both before nodding. "Deal. So how about some breakfast."

Dean frowned at her before moving around the kitchen to grab the food he'd finished making before she'd come in. Sam walked but behind her, a knowing smile on his face, "Think he'll realize what you just did?"

Holding back a laugh, she watched her father, waiting for it to hit, "Three… two…"

"Did you just Jedi mind trick me?!" Dean basically yelled from across the room.

Ana and Sam both began to laugh, even Connor chuckled a little. "No, I didn't Jedi mind trick you." she spoke between laughs, "Simple redirection. A trick I learned from watching mothers of my friends. I never thought it would actually work that well."

Dean glared at her, "Don't do it again." he warned before continuing to set plates of food on the center island. "Alright, there's too much to fit on the table and give us room to eat so you'll have to fill your plates then sit down."

Looking over all of the food on the counter Ana shook her head as she grabbed a plate, "Was there really a need to make both pancakes and waffles… bacon and sausage?" she questioned, each coupling being close enough to the same thing to her. "Looks like there's enough food to feed an army."

"Or just Dean." Sam joked with a grin as he began to fill up his plate.

Dean walked over to her, "Celebratory breakfast. Don't question it, just be thankful." he instructed as he elbowed her arm playfully.

She gave him a thankful smile and went about putting food on her plate. It was quiet for a while when they all finally sat down, everyone too focused on the delicious food in front of them and the three Winchesters relaxing in the thought that there was no longer a bounty on Ana's head. The girl looked across the table at her father, seeming to consider something as she took a drink of coffee, "So I need to call Heather and let her know I won't be coming home for a while." she spoke her thoughts.

The look that crossed Dean's face showed that he understood how unpleasant that conversation would be, "Good luck with that."

"Not the response I was looking for." She grumbled, frowning at him, "I was actually thinking that sometime soon we could maybe take a trip up there? I would like to get some more of my things out of the house. There's really no telling how long I'm going to be here, might as well make myself at home." she pointed out.

Connor sat listening to the conversation, an eyebrow raised as he tried to understand what they were talking about. He had thought that Ana must have been there a while, so why were her things somewhere else? It was something he'd ask her when they were alone later. "We really need to start on your training." he reminded her.

"I know." she assured him, "I was under the impression that until I have control over my power and we figure out a way to stop the overload thing that you would probably be going wherever I'm going." Dean grumbled at that and he received a glare from Ana for it, "Deal with it, dad. Unless you want me to explode or whatever, he has to stick around."

Sam cleared his throat, "I actually think I saw signs of a potential case near your hometown. We can make the trip up there, Dean and I can check out the case, and you can get whatever you want from your house."

"A case? Where?" Ana asked, slightly worried.

"Uhh.. a small town called Huntley. There's been a few too many animal attacks for it to be normal, even in Montana." Sam answered, thinking about to the information he had been looking at that morning.

She sighed, "Huntley's pretty close to the city I grew up in… They're calling it an animal attack?" Sam nodded, mouth too full of food to speak, "So are you thinking werewolf? The lunar cycle would be right, wouldn't it?"

Dean nodded, "Lunar cycle is right, but the reports didn't mention a missing heart."

"So not a werewolf." Ana concluded, werewolves always ate the hearts of their victims. "Was there any information on what the victims' bodies looked like after these 'animal attacks'?"

The brother's shared a look, they had already narrowed down to what they figured it was, but Dean gave Sam a look that said he could continue to entertain the teenager. "I haven't been able to get any photos yet, but one of the reports mentioned multiple bite marks and they were drained of blood."

"Oh, so vampires right? What's up with the multiple bite marks though? Isn't it kind of a one and done with vamps?" She raised an eyebrow, eyes glancing back and forth between the brothers.

Dean paused, wiping his mouth with a napkin as he considered how to handle the situation. He was aware that there was a snowball's chance in hell that he could keep Ana away from all of the hunting world, especially with her being a witch, but he still wasn't sure how much he wanted her to take on a hunter's lifestyle. "It is strange, most vamp victims have one bite. What do you think it could be?" She was a smart girl, he knew she could figure it out, and he decided letting her help with the non-physical part couldn't be too harmful.

Ana thought as she took a bite of her toast, considering different possibilities as she chewed. "Multiple vampires would make the most sense, they do normally form nests, but I don't see a old vamp taking down a human with help. From what I've seen in my visions about you two dealing with vampires they don't seem like the sharing types." she paused, "So new vamps? Multiple freshly turned and they're hunting together?"

Sam smiled, "That's our theory, but we won't know for sure until we go check it out."

"If they're killing in Huntly it won't take them long to move on to Billings, they're not that far apart and the population is quite a bit bigger." Ana informed them, not wanting to think about vampires terrorizing the place she grew up.

"We'll get there and take care of it before it gets much further." Sam assured her with a soft smile.

She nodded, having faith that they would handle it before it got too much worse, "When will we leave?"

"Soon. We'll clean this up and make sure we have everything we need then we'll hit the road." Dean answered, standing up with his empty plate, "You two kids can get to work on the kitchen." he added with a grin.

Ana rolled her eyes, "I don't mind cleaning, but please stop calling me 'kid'."

"Never going to happen." he told her, setting his plate in the sink. "Come on, Sammy, let's go get Baby ready to go."

Sam put his plate in the sink and followed his brother out of the kitchen. "So road trip with your family, that's going to be fun." Connor said as he stood up.

Ana laughed softly and stood up as well, making her way over to the sink so she could start washing dishes. "You can ride with me. We can talk witch stuff on the way there." she offered, turning on the water.

"They're not going to like us being alone in a car together." He pointed out, beginning to gather the rest of the dishes, "I don't know if you've noticed, but they don't trust me."

"Well they're going to have to get over that." she turned to look at him, letting the sink fill up, "Like I said when we first met, I somehow know that you're not going to hurt me and since I'm basically a ticking time bomb at this point, I need you around to make sure I don't combust." pausing, she sighed, "It's still building up, isn't it? The power or energy or whatever? Now that I know what it is I think I can feel it."

Connor nodded, walking over to her with a stack of dishes, "It's your power, your magic." he corrected her, "And, yes, it's still building up. We'll find a way to handle it, Ana. If we can't find a way to fix it then we'll find a way for you to manage it." he assured her.

Taking the dishes from his, she set them in the sink, "Okay." was her only response as she turned off the water and began to wash, "Why don't you wipe down the counters."

"On it." Connor told her with a grin and began to pull out drawers until he found one with clean washcloths in it. "So while we're cleaning, we can start talking about some of the basics of witchcraft. I think the more you know the easier it will be to help control what's going on."

She nodded, "Makes sense. Alright, Dumbledore, what's my first lesson?" He glared at her from across the room and grumbled about the Harry Potter reference. With a shake of his head he started wiping down counters and began talking about the magic within them, recapping on some of the things she had already read in the books about her family.

That's how they spent the next half hour, cleaning the kitchen and talking about magic. When they were done cleaning, Connor followed her to her bedroom so she could pack her things for the trip. "So there were witches in my family before Sarah Good?" she questioned, wanting to make sure she was understanding right.

"There were many witches before Sarah. The whole reason that she made the blood oath with my ancestor Steven is because our family lines both started in the same part of what is now Ireland. The first witches in our lines came from the same area, the link that is within our two families was in place long before Sarah Good was even born." Connor explained, watching as she gathered her things.

Ana nodded, taking in the information, "So both of our families are natural witches right? Where did that power come from to begin with? It doesn't just pop up out of no where, right?"

Connor moved to sit down in the chair at her desk, "Honestly we don't know. As far as I know neither of our families remember where the power came from, but families like ours are very rare, that's another reason why Sarah and Steven made the pact they did. Almost every witch you run in to nowadays was either given their power by a demon or has learned about it via other means and just learned enough to control magic." he sighed, "The coven that I'm a part of is very small, all of the other witches were taught by someone else to use magic, so it's different from what you and I can do, but it's still nice to be a part of a group. They're very positive and relaxing people."

"So if all of the other witches aren't natural, your family isn't a part of it?" She questioned, when he had brought it up earlier she had just assumed that his parents would be in the same coven.

The expression on his face shifted slightly, "I don't have contact with any of my family anymore." he told her, not meeting her eyes.

"Oh," she instantly felt bad for breaching the subject, "I'm sorry."

He smiled softly, "It's not your fault. It's more their loss than mine really…" he trailed off, before remembering one of the questions he had thought of while they were talking over breakfast, "When we first met, you said that your only living relative was your aunt. What happened to your mother?"

At first she didn't answer, she just zipped her duffle bag shut and then sat down on her bed to face him, "She… she died giving birth to me." she told him with a sad smile, "Heather, my aunt, raised me and I didn't think I had any other family until I found my dad and Sam." she told him.

"Oh, Ana, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked." His words were just above a whisper.

"You know… a week or so ago I would have broken down crying at the mere mention of it, but the night I met Sam he gave me some advice. It helped, it still hurts, but I won't let it make me miserable anymore." She told him, thinking about the vision she had that night as well.

"Ana, you ready to go?" Dean asked as he rounded the corner into her bedroom, pausing as he noticed that Connor was in there with her, "No boys in your room." he added, glaring at the witch in the chair.

Standing up Ana rolled her eyes, "We were talking, don't get your panties in a twist. Plus, I wouldn't leave my door open if we were having se-"

"Woah! You just stop that sentence right where it is." Dean interrupted, "Let's get going, we have a twelve hour car ride a head of us."

Suddenly a thought struck Ana, "I just realized that you probably have nothing with you." the words were directed at Connor.

He pushed in the chair and sent her a curious glance, "I am wearing clean clothes today." he pointed out, "After you went to bed last night I did a quick spell, went back to my apartment, grabbed some things and came back." he informed her.

She glanced over the jeans and white tee shirt, "So you just own multiples of the same outfit?" she raised an eyebrow, giving him an amused grin.

"Says the girl who lives with two men that wear a surplus of flannel." Connor countered, jerking a thumb towards Dean.

"Oh just shut up!" Dean looked between the two of them, "You need to pack a bag." he added to Connor before turning to leave.

Connor and Ana followed him out of the room, "I never unpacked so I'm ready to go." Dean simply nodded and led them toward the garage, making a quick stop at Connor's room so he could grab his bag.

When the three of them filed into the garage Sam was loading his bag into the trunk, "You guys ready?"

Ana nodded, "Yep, we're going to take my car." she said, walking toward her car. It was a run down 1990 Saab 900 with faded paint that at one time must have been red, but now was a strange orange color.

"No we're all going in Baby." Dean stepped in front of her, forcing her to stop walking.

"No, _we"_ she gestured to herself and Connor, "are going to take my car so that when you're working the case I'm not left without transportation and can do something else other than sit around, waiting for you two to get back. That is, unless you planned on taking me on a vampire hunt?"

Dean crossed his arms over his chest, "We've talked about this, you're not going to be hunting."

Ana grinned, "Then I'm taking my own car. Pick your battles, dad. It's not like we won't be right behind you the whole time."

"Fine!" He looked over Ana's head to where Connor was standing behind her, "You try _anything_ and I will find out, then I will do unspeakable things to you."

Moving around her dad, Ana ignored him and unlocked her car, "Let's go!" she yelled as she threw her bag in the back seat. "We gonna drive straight through?"

Sam shrugged, "We'll play it by ear, don't want you getting too tired and falling asleep at the wheel." he answered and sat down in the car.

"Sounds good. Lead the way." She told Dean as she got into her car, waiting as Connor threw his bag next to hers and got into the passenger seat. Waiting until Dean pulled out in front of her, she followed behind the Impala, hoping that the trip would go by fast.

-A-

About half way through the drive Dean pulled off of the road and up to a gas station. Within the six hours they had been driving together Ana and Connor had talked more about witchcraft and he taught her a couple of easy spells. They had also argued about how he thought she was driving like a crazy person, had a rather calm discussion about their tastes in music, and wagered on how much Dean brought up them driving in a separate car and how annoyed Sam was going to be when they finally stopped.

Parking next to the pump Ana turned off the engine and got out to fill up the gas tank while Connor went inside to get them drinks and snacks. Dean had parked the Impala at the pump in front of her, leaving Sam to deal with the fuel he walked over to where she stood by her car, "How's it going so far?" he asked.

"I'm getting kind of stiff driving, I think Connor is going to take the last leg of the trip." She answered, looking around her father to see her uncle leaning against the Impala with a frown on his face. "What's up with, Sam?"

Dean glanced over and shook his head, "Nothing, he's just being a little bitch!" he spoke the last part loud enough for his brother to hear.

"Shut up, jerk!" Sam called back, glaring at the back of Dean's head.

Ana laughed softly, "Are you driving him crazy complaining about me being in a separate car with a boy?" she raised her eyebrow.

"He's not just any boy, Ana. He's a freaking witch who we barely know." He pointed out, "I don't like that you're completely alone with him."

The pump clicked and she took the nozzle out of her car, "Dad, I know you don't trust him, but you trust me right? We barely know each other."

Dean frowned at her, "That's different. Sadly you inherited the Winchester gene that makes you incredibly up front about the type of person you are. Plus, knowing your mom and Heather, obviously I know you weren't raised to be evil."

"Nothing is going to happen." she poked him in the chest, "Just give him a chance, alright? I think he's going to be a lot of help with this magic stuff and outside of that he seems like a pretty nice guy."

"For all I know he's brainwashed you during the drive." Dean argued and slapped her hand away.

Connor walked up to the car with a smirk, catching Dean's words, "I wouldn't brainwash her, where's the fun in that?" he opened the passenger side door and threw the snacks inside, "If I was going to have a hidden evil agenda it would be much more creative than brainwashing."

Ana rolled her eyes, "You're not helping your case here."

"You're really, really not." Dean agreed, glaring at the witch from across the top of the car. "You make one wrong move driving with my daughter in the car and I will-"

"Do unspeakable things. Yeah, I get it." Connor rounded the back of the car and took the keys from Ana before looking at her father, "I'm not going to let anything happen to her, Dean. It's kind of part of my job to keep her alive and even if it wasn't I'd be just as careful."

Dean scowled and wondered if he could glare enough at the boy to scare him off. Sam came over, looking between the three of them before speaking, "So we ready to keep going?"

Ana nodded, "Yeah, might as well get there tonight so you guys can deal with the case tomorrow." she answered as she moved around to the other side of the car and got in. Moments later Connor was sitting down and adjusting the driver seat while Sam and Dean were getting into the Impala.

Once they were a ways down the highway she pushed back her seat as far as it would go, reclined the back a bit so she was stretched out and a little more comfortable, then pulled off her boots and kicked her feet up on the dash. "Make yourself comfortable, why don't you?" Connor glanced at her with an amused grin.

"It's my car, I'll do whatever I want." She stuck her tongue out at him, then turned her attention to the window and watched as every so often a car would pass them.

Connor simply nodded before remembering something, "There's a book in my bag that I brought you to read. It's all about herbs and their magical uses, might as well get some learning done while you're relaxing over there."

Ana grumbled and grabbed his bag, sifting through his clothes until she found the book. Opening it up, she began to read, trying to absorb as much information from the book as she could.

The last six or so hours of the drive were passed without much said between the two except for the odd question from Ana, but the music playing through the speakers the only sound most of the time. By the time they pulled up to a hotel it was just after midnight and Ana had been asleep for a few hours, the book having closed and dropped in her lap.

Connor parked her car next to the Impala and got out, walking over to Sam and Dean, "She's been out for a while." he told them, glancing over at the passenger side window where her head had fallen to rest against.

The brothers followed his gaze and they nodded, "I'll wake her up, why don't you two see if they have a room that will fit the four of us." Dean suggested, having talked to Sam earlier about how he would rather have the two witches in the same room as them so he could keep an eye on Connor.

He watched as Sam led Connor toward the lobby before walking over to Ana's car, opening the driver side door he placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking her softly, "Ana, we're here. Time to get up."

She grunted and pushed his hand away, "I'm fine here."

Dean laughed, "You're going to feel like crap tomorrow if you sleep all night in this tiny car. Come on, let's get you inside and into a real bed."

"Fine." she whined as she rolled her head to the side and glared at him. "What time is it?" she added the question with a yawn, sitting up and reaching for her boots.

"After midnight, we actually made pretty good time." he informed her as he caught sight of Sam and Connor headed back their way. "They have one?" he sent the question their way.

Sam shook his head as he walked toward the Impala to grab his bag, "No, but they had two adjoining rooms. That's going to have to work for now."

Dean frowned, it wasn't the ideal situation, but it was late and they had been in the car for so long that he just wanted to go to bed. "Fine. Dumbledore, you're rooming with Sam." he instructed as he moved to grab his own bag out of the trunk. Thankful that there didn't seem to be any arguments from anyone, he waited until Connor and Ana both had their bags before walking back toward the hotel.

They each went to their respective rooms, Sam and Dean unlocking the door that separated the rooms so they could easily get back and forth if they needed to. Ana threw her bag by the side of the bed closest to the window and threw herself down on the mattress. "How long do you think we'll be here?" she questioned, her voice muffled by the pillow her face was smushed against.

Dean shrugged and set his bag down before sitting down on his own bed, "At least a couple of days. We're going to want to make sure our theory is right and then it may take a while for us to find the nest."

Ana nodded slightly, "Makes sense." she stifled a yawn.

"Why don't you go change into something comfortable and go to sleep."

"Nope," she shook her head, "too much work. I'm fine like this."

Raising an eyebrow, he began to take off his boots, "Aren't you at least going to take off your coat or boots?"

In response she used the toe of her foot to pull off one boot and then did the same to the other. Rolling on to her back, she pulled her arms out of her coat and rolled back over, wiggling around until she was under the blankets. "Night, dad." she muttered, barely awake.

"Night, kid." After taking off his shoes and his jacket, he moved in to the bathroom to change into sweats and a tee shirt. He checked on Sam and Connor, both in the process of getting ready for bed themselves, before turning out the lights and climbing into his own bed, quickly falling asleep.

 _A/N (2): So I realize that this chapter is kind of slow, but the story will be picking up more in the next chapter. As always I would love reviews, good or bad! I'm still looking for Canon characters to bring in! I've got plot lines set up for a bunch of different characters to come in but I'm not sure which ones I want to make an appearance, so leave me a message or a quick review on who you'd like to see! Thanks for reading :)_


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: Hello readers and welcome to my next installment! I want to clear up something DracoPotter80 brought up in a review so that everyone is on the same page! This story takes place before season 10. I'm pretty set on not bringing the Mark of Cain into this because I'm still trying to catch up and become more familiar with anything past the beginning of season 9. Honestly, I went on a Doctor Who binge and though I kept up with SPN most of the newer stuff is very vague in my memory. I'm going back and rewatching everything, so not having the Mark of Cain may change. Sadly Kevin is dead in this storyline, but Charlie is still alive so there is the possibility of her making an appearance!_

 _DracoPotter80: I was hesitant on Ana calling Dean dad so early on, but seeing as how she's been watching their lives for months through her visions and that for her whole life she had neither of her parents I think it makes sense for her to become attached to him so quickly. Writing Charlie in is a definite possibility, she's one of my favorite characters :). Thanks so much for the review!_

Ana woke up early the next morning, something about being home made her not want to waste any of her time. There was no telling how often she would make it back since she was moving in with her family at the bunker. Looking over at the other bed in the shabby hotel room, she noticed that Dean was still sleeping and decided that she would let him while she started out her day. After quickly changing out of her jeans and shirt from the day before into a clean pair of black jeans with a forest green long sleeve thermal she wrote a note to leave in the room.

 _Dad,_

 _Went to pack my stuff, not sure when I'll be back. Call me if you need me._

 _-Ana_

She jotted her number down at the bottom of the hotel stationary when she realized that he probably didn't have it in his phone. Making sure that she had her keys and her phone, she stopped by the door that joined their room and the room that Sam and Connor were in. When she didn't hear anything she assumed that they were both still asleep and decided to not bother opening the door because she wanted to let them all rest.

The combination of the chilling autumn air and being back in her hometown made her smile, it was going to be difficult to get used to a different place after living in the same city her whole life. Sitting down on the driver seat in her car, she frowned when she realized that she had to readjust everything Connor had changed while he was driving the night before. Grumbling to herself about men with too long of legs, she fixed everything and started the engine. Though the sun was in the sky, the grey coverage of clouds that covered the morning sky made it feel like it was earlier than it was. Driving toward the other side of the city, she planned on making a quick stop for drink at her favorite coffee shop and then moving on to her house to pack up more of her things.

With coffee in hand, she parked her car in the driveway of the house she had left almost two weeks ago and got Heather was already at work and she wouldn't have to explain why she had shown up with no warning, she still wasn't sure that she wanted her aunt to know that she was basically moving out. Once inside she kicked off her boots by the door and walked down the hall to her bedroom, ready to get what she needed packed and then head back to the hotel. Sighing, she dug around in her closet until she found the large suitcase she used on long trips and rolled it over to her bed.

After packing her favorite clothes, a couple of books she knew without a doubt she would reread over time, some extra shoes, and a few things out of the bathroom, Ana was sure that she had everything she needed ready to go. Just as she finished zipping up her suitcase, her phone began to ring. The screen told her it was her dad.

"Good morning." She answered, holding the phone between her ear and shoulder as she pulled the suitcase off of the bed, setting it up right on the floor.

"Look, I know we're in your hometown, but just because you know a place doesn't mean I'm okay with you leaving in the morning with just a note to tell me you've left." Dean's gruff voice informed her.

Ana rolled her eyes, "I wanted to get my stuff packed while Heather was at work and I didn't want to wake any of you up." she explained, "Plus, I'm already done and I managed to not be eaten alive by my closet or my suitcase."

She heard him take a deep breath, "I'm not awake enough to deal with your sarcasm, Ana. Just hurry back to the hotel, Connor's freaking out that he's not with you." he didn't sound too happy about that either.

"Why is he freaking out?"

"Because as you put it yesterday, he's worried about you exploding or whatever." Dean answered, "He said something about how it's been long enough since the demon killing light thing that you are probably getting to a dangerous point."

 _Crap. I hadn't even thought about that._ She chided herself mentally. Being back home had just made her so happy that the thought slipped her mind. "Alright, I'll be back soon." she assured him and hung up, shoving her phone in her pocket and then proceeding to roll her suitcase down the hall on it's wheels. Making one last mental check that she had everything she needed, she slipped into her boots and hurried out the door, double checking that it was locked behind her.

As she was putting the suitcase in the back seat she heard the sound of a car drive past the house, but she thought nothing of it. The house she grew up in was on a main residential street and there were cars on it at all times of day. The sound of a car door slamming caught her attention and she turned to face the street as she closed the door to her own car.

When her eyes landed on Luke she swore under her breath, she didn't want to deal with him after the argument they had the last time they spoke. He walked over to her car and stopped a couple feet away from her, "Welcome home." his tone was flat, obviously still mad at her.

"I won't be staying long. I only came to get some more of my things." Ana told him as she turned to get into her car, "So if you'll excuse me." she added, wanting to get away from him.

One of his hands caught the door, applying pressure to it to keep it closed, "So we're not even going to talk about what happened?"

Her anger flared, how dare he think that he could force her to talk to him, "There's nothing to talk about, Luke. You did what you always do, poke your nose where it doesn't belong and then become an overbearing, pompous, controlling ass. I have nothing to say to you." she shoved him back and opened the door.

"So what? You're going to leave and stay with some guy who you barely know? I always knew you had daddy issues, but I never imagined that they were this bad." He snapped at her and it was in that moment that she remembered one of the reasons she had left him.

The comment about her 'daddy issues' sent her over the edge, "How dare you! Talk to me about _my_ issues?! Stop pointing fingers, Lucas, and deal with your own damn problems." she practically yelled at him. It had been a long time since she had been that angry and she could feel it coursing through her veins like fire, but then she realized it wasn't fire. It was magic. The strange tingle was back and she realized that she let herself get too worked up.

Luke watched as the angry red head in front of him went from being red with rage to being as pale as a sheet and worry overtook him, "Ana, what's wrong?"

Not wasting any energy answering him, she focused on trying to calm herself down as she fumbled in her coat pocket for her phone. Maybe she could get herself calmed down long enough for Connor to get to her and defuse the bomb she could feel her magic turning into. Her body began to tremble and the phone dropped out of her hand. When she bent down to pick it up her body began to sway.

"Ana?" Luke grabbed her around the waste, "What's wrong? Talk to me!" he could feel her body shake as he lowered her to the ground.

"Call… Dean." She told him, turning all of her focus inward. _Breath, just breath and control it. You can do this. You won't lash out._

He picked her phone off of the ground and quickly found the name in her contact list. Dialing the number he held the phone to his ear and sat down behind her, leaning her body against his own. The ringing cut short as the other end of the line was picked up, "Ana? What's up?" The voice who must have been Dean asked.

"I don't know what's wrong with her. One minute we're talking, the next she's pale and shaking. She told me to call you." Luke spoke quickly into the phone, his worry growing as he watched Ana continue to shake.

"Shit! Connor!" Dean yelled, phone to his ear, "We need to get to Ana now!" he yelled loud enough for the two in the other room to hear him as he stood up from his bed. "Where are you?" he spoke into the phone.

"Just outside of Heather's house. Should I call an ambulance, what's wrong with her?" Luke wondered who Dean and Connor were.

Connor hurried through the door and into Dean's room, "How bad is she?" he asked as he began to look around the room.

"She's shaking." Dean answered Connor, watching him search frantically for something, "Do not call an ambulance and if you're next to her you need to get as far away as you can." he warned the voice on the phone.

Connor found her hairbrush and gave a sound of relief as he pulled a strand of red hair from it. Pressing it between the palms of his hands he began to chant as he stood between Sam and Dean, focusing on Ana.

"I'm not leaving her! She's sick." Luke told Dean as he placed a hand to her forehead, she was burning up.

Dean gave Connor a curious glance, "Look, kid, just-" but his words were cut off as whatever spell Connor was doing went into effect and they were suddenly standing next to Ana's car. Dropping his phone, Dean hurried over to where his daughter was basically laying on the kid he must have been talking to.

"No!" Connor yelled, "Everyone else back off, let me have her." he hurried around Dean and went to grab Ana from the boy she was laying against.

"Who the hell are you?!" Luke snapped, wrapping his arms around the girl he had known for years, protecting her.

Connor glared down at Luke, "If you do not move, she will hurt you and then she will most likely die. Now, move!" he raised his hand, ready to throw him away from Ana.

Sam moved to Luke's side, "Come on, he's going to help her, you have to let him." he told the boy as he wrapped his hands around one of his arms, forcing him to let Ana go.

Connor quickly grabbed her and sat down on the ground, he laid her head in his lap and began to chant. He placed his hands on her temples and focused on removing some of her power. "Ana, you have to relax otherwise it's going to hurt you." He told her, leaning down he placed his forehead to her's and placed his hands on the ground, "Let me help you channel it."

Giving the slightest of nods, she tried to focus on letting it out slowly. Him channeling it in a non harmful way was their best option and she knew it.

"Who the hell are you people? What is he doing to her?" Luke snapped, glancing up at Sam who was still holding him back.

Dean had been watching Ana and Connor closely, hoping that whatever Connor would work. When his focus was pulled away from his daughter he scowled, "I'm her father! Who the hell are you?" He demanded, taking a few steps until he was standing just in front of the boy, looking down at him.

"I'm her boyfriend." Luke answered, glaring up at Dean.

Ana scoffed, "Exboyfriend." She corrected him.

"Ana, you need to focus." Connor chided her, though part of him was glad that she wasn't with the douche bag.

Dean returned the boys glare, "Luke, right?" He received a nod as answer, "So when this happened you were just talking?"

"Yeah, we were-"

"Arguing." Ana interrupted.

Connor swore, "FOCUS!" He snapped at her, "I can only do so much, if you don't focus this will kill us both."

Now filled with fear, Ana turned all of her attention to Connor, "What do I do?" She asked him, voice small.

"Let your power flow through you and into me, I'll do the rest." He explained, softening his own voice, he could sense her fear.

Dean turned his attention back to what the witches were doing. A white light, similar to the one that they saw when she took out the group of demons, began to glow in her chest. Slowly it began to move up her body, trailing through her neck, through her head and then the watched as it transferred into Connor's forehead. It then moved down his body until it settled in his chest. From there it seemed to split down both of his arms, it trailed down toward his hands which were palm down on the ground.

As the light transferred into the ground the grass around them began to grow quickly, wildflowers blooming from it at an extremely unnatural rate. "What the hell?" Luke watched wide eyed, glancing quickly between the two large men at either side of him.

Once all of the light was gone Connor sat up and looked down at Ana, whose head had rolled to the side since his was no longer keeping it in place. "She's safe for now." he commented, looking over a Dean, "It was really close though so she's probably going to be weak for a while, maybe even a little sick."

Dean quickly walked over to where his daughter lay and knelt down beside her, "But she's okay?" looking down at her, she still looked pale and looked uncomfortable even though it was clear she was unconscious.

Connor nodded, "She'll be fine. It may take a two or three days before she's back to normal. We should get her back to the motel room so she can rest."

"Can you magic us back?" Dean asked, "We can come back for her car later." he spoke to Sam, turning to look at his brother.

"Woah!" Luke took a couple of steps forward, "I don't know any of you! You're not taking her anywhere."

Connor glared at the kid before glancing back to Dean, "If he keeps talking, I'm going to revert to a kind of magic I like to stay away from."

Giving the witch a look that said he understood, Dean stood up and walked over to Luke. "The way I see it, you have two options here. You can either shut the hell up and leave or… No, wait…" he gave his brother a thoughtful glance, "Yeah, that's the only option." Looking down at the boy, his jaw set and his glare promising death, Dean gave him a smile that could put fear in the nastiest of monsters, "And if you ever contact my daughter again, I will find where you live and let Connor over there do all kinds of creative things to you."

At the mention of his name, Connor looked up from Ana's face, where his eyes had been focused, "You know, it's been a while, but I faintly remember a hex that makes the victim's skin melt off… slowly."

Luke looked between the two threatening men in front of him, gave a quick glance to the taller, silent man behind him, and then his eyes rested on Ana for a moment before he began to walk toward his car.

Waiting until the car was a ways down the road, Dean looked to Connor, "So, can you get us back to the motel? I don't think we'll all fit in her tiny car."

"I have a little more power than normal after the transfer thing, part of it lingers, so getting us back won't be a problem." He assured the brothers, "Just need you two about as close to me as you were when we left." Connor added.

Sam walked over to stand next to them, looking down at Ana with worry etched on his face. He listened as Connor repeated the same chant he had used in the hotel room. Within the time it took him to blink they were back in the room. He stood aside as Dean picked Ana up from the floor and laid her down on her bed. "So, the flowers blooming…" Sam wondered out loud, turning his attention to Connor.

"Uh... " Connor thought, trying to think of a way to explain it, "It's like the law of conservation of energy. Just like with any other kind of energy, the kind used within magic is neither created nor destroyed." he moved to sit down at a chair at the small table, "When I took it out of her and pushed it into the ground, it instantly went to work." he shrugged.

Nodding, Sam understood, happy to have his answer but ready to move past it. "What do we want to do about the vampire case?" he asked Dean, not sure if his brother would want to leave Ana while she was in the state she was.

"Well, we can't just ignore it." Dean answered, watching Ana sleep, "We'll work the case, but not until after she wakes up. Connor's going to have to stay with her either way, might as well decapitate some vamps while she heals up." his eyes flicked to the other witch, "I'm not going to regret letting you watch after her, am I?"

With a shake of his head, Connor met Dean's gaze, "I told you, it's part of my job to make sure she stays alive. I'm not going to let anything happen to her while you guys are gone." he stood up and walked over to the bed, standing on the opposite side as Dean, his eyes landed on her sleeping form, "I'm going to be around for a while, I plan on gaining your trust, you just need to give me the opportunity."

Dean looked over at his brother and they shared a look that conveyed their thoughts, "Consider this your first one." Sam offered.

"If you screw this up, there won't be another." Dean added, giving the kid a stern look.

"Dad, Sam, cut him some slack. The guy just saved my life." Ana grumbled as she rolled from her back to her side. "For the second time." she added.

Dean sat down on the side of the bed, "You need to stop arguing and get some rest. You don't look like you're doing so hot, kid."

Ana shrugged and snuggled deeper into the pillow, "I think I'll make it. Are you guys going to go check on the case in Huntly?"

"Yeah, you gonna be okay here for a while with Connor?" Dean asked, watching her carefully, she was still too pale for his liking.

She nodded, "I'm probably not going to move from the bed. You and Sam take care of the vampires, I'll be fine."

Dean nodded and stood up, moving across the room to grab his suit. Sam crossed over to the bed and knelt down by Ana's head so they were eye level, "We shouldn't be gone long. The first part is just getting all of our information straight. If you need anything," he glanced up at Connor, "if he gives you any trouble," he added, looking back at Ana, "kick his ass and give us a call, we'll be back as fast as we can."

Ana laughed weakly, "I'll be fine, Sam." she assured him.

Smiling at her, Sam stood up and left the room to get his own suit on. When both men were sporting their finest, fake fed wear, they met back in Dean and Ana's room. Dean sat back down next to Ana on the bed, rousing her from the light sleep she had fallen into while he was changing, "We shouldn't be gone long." he told her softly, brushing her hair out of her face, "You rest up and we'll bring you something to eat on our way back, okay?"

"Just be careful." She told him with a soft smile.

"Will do, kid." He stood up and walked over to Connor who was sitting at the small table again. "If she starts to get worse, you call, alright? Keep her safe."

Connor nodded, "Nothing is going to happen to her. Now stop being a helicopter parent and go hunt down some vampires."

Dean glared at him a moment before he turned to follow Sam out of the door. As they were walking toward the Impala, he glanced at his brother, "Helicopter parent?"

Sam laughed, "Yeah, you were hovering." he clarified with a grin.

-A-

Ana had almost instantly fallen back to sleep once Dean and Sam were out the door. She had never felt so weak in her life and it wasn't something she was fond of. After watching her for a moment, Connor stood up and walked over to the bed, grabbing the blanket to cover her with. He wouldn't admit it to her family, but there was a moment during the power transfer where he almost lost her. The process was moving too slowly and the energy almost took over her body, which would have killed her.

With a heavy sigh, he grabbed the remote for the TV and, being careful not to move the bed too much, made himself comfortable next to her. Leaving it on some sitcom, he barely paid any attention to what was going on in the show, his focus was continually pulled away by the sleeping girl next to him. He reassured himself that she would be fine and let himself zone out on the cheesy show.

-A-

An hour and two episodes of crappy daytime TV later, Ana began to stir next to Connor. Since she had fallen asleep she had been relatively still, but now she was tossing around and whimpering slightly. "Ana?" he placed a hand on her arm, wondering if she was having a bad dream.

She rolled over and winced, barely opening her eyes to look into his blue ones, "I don't feel good." she told him, but couldn't explain further as she bolted up from the bed and ran into the bathroom. Thankful that her hair was already pulled back, she barely made it to the toilet before she got sick. Her eyes began to tear as she heaved up coffee and stomach acid, which was a terrible combination.

Connor moved off of the bed and toward the bathroom. Frowning, he knelt down behind her and placed his hands on her back as he began to chant softly.

The vomiting slowly turned to dry heaving and she whined as she reached up to flush the toilet, "You really didn't have to come in here." her voice was hoarse.

He stood up and grabbed one of the individually wrapped, flimsy plastic cups off of the bathroom counter, took the cover off, and filled it with water, "A little vomit isn't going to scare me away." he offered her the cup, "Plus, I told your dad I would take care of you and that's exactly what I'm going to do."

With a grunt she took the cup out of his hand and down the water in a gulp, "Well, let's just hope that doesn't happen again. I don't think I can handle a round two." she shoved the cup out towards him which he refilled and gave back to her. Once the cup was empty again she reached her hand out toward him, "Help a girl up?"

"My pleasure." Connor gave her a grin as he helped pull her to her feet, "Let's get you back in bed." he led her out of the bathroom, staying by her side the whole way. After helping her lay down, he covered her up again, "Think you'll be able to go back to sleep?"

She shrugged, "I'm not sure, I think I'm going to try and stay awake for a while. Don't want to complete screw up my sleeping schedule."

"Sleeping schedule?" he raised an eyebrow as he moved around to the other side of the bed, "You're pretty weak, I think your sleeping schedule can be messed up for a while." he told her as he sat down, back against the headboard.

"Either way, I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep." Ana rolled onto her back and scooted around until she was propped up on her pillow. She raised an eyebrow at the sitcom playing on the TV, "We are not watching this crap. Give me the remote."

Connor gave a short laugh, keeping the remote out of her reach, "Don't turn on any girly crap." he warned her before handing it over.

Pouting at him, she quickly grabbed it out of his hand, "I'm sick, we're going to watch whatever I want and you're just going to have to deal with it." she began to flick through channels, not stopping too long on channels she knew she didn't like. There wasn't a lot to choose from, but when she came across the opening sequence of a familiar show she grinned and put the remote down.

Watching the TV, he titled his head to the side and then looked at the girl laying next to him, "Don't you think it's a little… I don't know… ironic that you want to watch a show about witches?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Charmed is about more than just witches and it's really good, so you can hush." She stated as she fidgeted around, trying to get comfortable. Giving a quick glance over at Dean's bed, she stood up, grabbed one of the pillows off of it, and added it on top of her own. She laid back down with a grin and snuggled into the blankets.

Connor watched her and couldn't help but to smile at the content look the crossed her face, "Comfortable?"

"Very. No hush, it's starting." she chided him as the story line for the episode began.

-A-

The channel was running some sort of marathon and they were three episodes in when Ana's phone rang from across the room where it hid in her jacket pocket. Connor hurried to get it, digging it out of the pocket and then turning to toss it to her. Grinning as she caught it mid-air, she glanced at the screen. "Hey, Sam." she answered, still sounding pretty weak.

"Hey, Ana, how are you feeling?" He asked, sounding relieved. The entire time they had been questioning people in the small town and checking the bodies at the morgue they had both been worried about her.

She took a moment to reasses how she felt. Since she'd gotten sick shortly after they left she'd been feeling a little better. "I'm doing okay. You know how they say laughter is a cure? Well we found a skimpy little nurse's outfit and Connor looks very dashing in it."

"Anastasia…" Dean's voice warned, "that is not a visual I needed."

Sam chuckled, "At least your sarcasm wasn't hindered."

It was then she realized that they must have had her on speaker phone. She laughed weakly, "Seriously, I'm fine. Just hanging out in bed watching some TV. How's the case panning out so far?"

"It's vampires. If the number of bite marks are anything to go by, we're looking for a group of eight to ten." Dean answered, "We're going to wait until night fall and then come back, see if we can find the nest."

Connor sat back down while she was talking and reached for the remote, hoping that the phone call would distract her. She caught the movement of his hand and slapped at it with her own, "Ow!" he pulled his hand back quickly.

"What was that?" Sam asked, having heard Connor's some what girlish whine.

Ana glared at him, "Just teaching Connor a lesson about not touching my remote."

The brothers exchanged a look before looking back to the phone, "Anyway," Dean spoke up, "We're heading back to the motel, do you guys want us to bring you back anything?"

"You hungry?" She asked Connor, moving the phone slightly so it wasn't directly picking up her words. Connor simply nodded. "Yeah, Connor's hungry, I think I just want some juice or something."

"You need to eat." Connor pointed out, his attention split between the one side of the conversation he could hear and the TV.

"He's right, Ana, you should eat something." Sam agreed as Dean began to drive them down the highway.

She could hear the rumble of the Impala's engine over the phone, "Fine, but just something small."

"Can do, kid. We'll see you guys soon." Dean assured her and the phone call ended.

Ana placed the phone on the nightstand between the beds then turned her attention back to the TV, "I can't believe you've never watched this before."

Connor shrugged, "You can't really blame me, I mean it's pretty far off from the world we actually live in." he pointed out, watching as one of the main male characters disappeared from a room in a wave of blue light. "So, what, he's supposed to be a weird angel or something?"

"Leo's a whitelighter. He died, but because he was such a good person while he was alive they kind of brought him back for the dead. He protects the Charmed Ones and heals other people too." she tried to explain.

He shook his head, "You know, we should see if Castiel can start making that weird chiming sound when he appears."

Whipping her head around to look at him Ana began to laugh, the kind that started in your toes and bubbled all the way through your body. "I don't think I could ever keep a straight face around him if he made that sound every time he came or left a room." she said as her laughter died down.

"Well, it would be better than being surprised every time he showed up." he pointed out a smile playing across his lips.

"Sometimes he makes a kind of fluttering sound." She told him, cocking her head to the side as she thought about it, "I think it's a conscious decision though, so he doesn't make it when he's not thinking about it." she shrugged, "I'm slowly getting used to him popping up out of no where without warning. It still scares the crap out of me, but I'm more prepared for it." she added with a yawn.

Grabbing the remote from the bed, Connor turned off the TV and gave her a pointed look, "Go to sleep, Ana. You're not going to get any better if you don't let your body heal."

She nodded, grabbing the second pillow under her head and throwing it back on her dad's bed. Pulling the blankets up to her chin she rolled on to her side so that she was facing him, "Tell me a story."

"You want a bedtime story?" He questioned, an amused look in his eyes.

"Yes, now don't be a jerk and tell me a story."

He smiled, "You're a bossy little thing, you know that?" he shook his head and got more comfortable, thinking of a story to tell her. "Once upon a time in a land far, far away-"

"-Did you just combine a fairy tale beginning with Star Wars?"

Connor gave her a teasing glare, "If you interrupt me you aren't going to get a story." he watched as she closed her lips tight in a thin line, "Good, now where was I… Right! Once upon a time in a land far, far away there lived a young witch. The witch was more powerful than anyone thought possible and that power scared them."

Ana had closed her eyes and was already slowly falling asleep to the sound of his voice, "Is this story supposed to be about me?" she questioned softly.

"What? No. This story is about me." he corrected her, lowering his voice, he continued the story, "The young witch's family was ecstatic to learn of his power that at first he thought they were just happy for him. It was an honor to be a natural witch with so much power. His parents and older sister were only excited for their own selfish reasons. See, they wanted to use the boy's power for their own, dark purposes. As the boy grew older he understood what their plan was and he wanted nothing to do with it, so he left. He moved to a different state, did magic on a much smaller scale, and waited for the day that the world would show him what he was supposed to do." he stopped as her breathing slowed, sure that she was asleep.

Her eyes flicked open and she looked up at him, "And did the world ever show the witch what he was supposed to do?" she asked.

Connor sunk down, laying his head on the pillow and looking into her eyes, "It took some time, but his path became clear. One night as he was leaving the bar he worked at he was approached by a strange man in a trench coat. As the man spoke to him he finally understood what it was his life was meant for."

"I think you got a crappy deal." she told him with a weak smile, eyes growing heavy.

He shrugged, "It's not so crappy and it's nice to be around someone who I can trust isn't planning on taking my power as their own."

Reaching a hand out of her blankets, she grabbed one of his, "I'm sorry about your family, Connor."

"Go to sleep." He told her again, giving her a small smile. Waiting until her eyes were closed and she was clearly asleep, he slowly stood up out of bed and moved over to the table, knowing that neither of the Winchester brothers would be happy if they came back to find him in bed with her.

It wasn't long after she had fallen asleep that he heard the Impala pull up right outside of the room. Connor met them just outside the door, "She just went back to sleep." he told them as they got out of the car.

They each gave a quick nod, "Let's go into the other room." Sam offered, digging his key out of his pocket with his one free hand, he held a carrier full of coffee cups in the other. He opened the door and moved to set the drinks down on the table.

Dean followed behind Sam with bags of food in his hands, setting them down on the table and then quickly shrugged off the jacket of his suit. "How is she?" he directed the question at Connor as he began to sort food out of the bag, revealing the breakfast meals they had picked up from a diner on the way back into town.

"Other than the one time she threw up, she's been fine. Exhausted and weak, but I expected that." He answered as he sat down on his own bed. "Hopefully she'll sleep for a while."

Sam held out a to go box for Connor, "We were thinking of making quick work of this case and then heading back to the bunker, think you could do some sort of tracking spell for us to find the nest?"

Connor took the box with a silent thank you, thinking about his question, "Unless you have something that belonged to a vampire in the nest I won't be able to track them, but I could do a spell to find groups of nonhumans in the area. It'll give us anything from witches to werewolves to vampires, so it may point you in a bunch of wrong places."

"Sounds like a start to me, at least it will narrow it down some what." Dean commented before shoving a bite of pancake in his mouth.

"I don't think we should leave for a couple of days though, even if you finish this tonight. Being cooped up for twelve hours in a car won't be good for Ana." Connor voiced his opinion, taking smaller bites of his food as he watched Dean basically inhale his.

Sam grabbed a cup of coffee out of the tray he had been carrying, "Why don't we finish the case first and then figure out what to do from there?" he looked between the other men and when neither argued he sat down to eat his own breakfast.

 _A/N(2): So that felt like a weird place to end for me, but that's just how it ended up happening. Boom! More background on Connor's family, let me know what you think about that! Quick disclaimer: I do not own Charmed or anything pertaining to it's story line. GUYS! I set up a poll on my profile that will let you vote for what Canon character you want to see in coming chapters! So vote, vote, vote! If I didn't give the option for a character you want to see, let me know! If I can make it happen and it works well with the plot line, I will! As always, thanks for reading! ;)_


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N: Hello all of my beautiful readers! The pole is in! Be expecting the appearance of a handful of canon characters in the next few chapters! Yes, I said handful because I couldn't just bring back one at a time, you're going to get the smorgasbord of them! Quick hello and thank you to my most recent favorite and follow readers!_

 _DracoPotter80: I'm so glad you're loving Connor! Thanks for the vote and for the review!_

It had been hours since Dean and Sam had come back from their rounds of questioning that morning and Ana had been asleep the whole time, which the brothers and Connor were all thankful for. Each hoping that she would feel better once she woke up. The three men had eaten their breakfast, the Winchesters had changed into their normal clothes, and they made a game plan for going after the vampires that night.

Dean sat on his bed in the motel room he was sharing with his daughter, he had been killing time reading through a couple of the local newspapers since Connor and Sam had left. The witch had explained that he needed certain things for the spell he would be casting and that he had none of it with him. After a little searching Sam had found a small occult shop not far from the hotel where they could get what Connor needed. Though he made it clear he didn't want to leave Ana, he had also explained to Dean that because she was so weak it would take a while longer for the magic to build up in her again so she should be safe while he was gone.

Ana groaned softly as she rolled from one side to the other, the sound drew Dean's attention to her. Bringing a hand to her face, she rubbed at her eyes before opening them, then smiled weakly as she saw her father. "Hey."

"Good morning, sleeping beauty." He returned her smile with a warm one of his own, "How are you feeling?"

Slowly sitting up, she took a moment to assess how she felt, "Not as bad as I did this morning," she informed him. "but I'm starving."

He chuckled and stood up from his bed, "That's a good sign. I'll get Sam and Connor to pick up something on their way back here." he walked over to the small fridge in the room and grabbed the juice and fruit bowl he had brought her earlier.

When he handed her both, she raised an eyebrow at him, "You brought me fruit and it wasn't baked into a pie?"

"You said you weren't too hungry and I figured if you were going to eat anything, might as well be packed full of vitamins." Dean explained as he sat down next to her. "We need to talk about what we're going to do about this power thing, Ana."

She opened the fruit bowl and poked around until she found a blueberry, popping it in her mouth she nodded, "What about it exactly?"

He heaved a sigh, "I really wish I was saying the opposite, but I don't want you going anywhere without Connor until we get this figured out. Since he's the only one of us who can sense it before it happens and then help you through it, he's going to have to be pretty much glued to your side."

"I assumed that would happen." She picked up a slice of apple and twirled it between her fingers, "When did he become _Connor_ to you?"

Dean gave her a confused look, watching as she slowly picked through the food, "What do you mean?"

"You've been using his name. No Gandalf or Harry Potter or Dumbledore." she pointed out, "I was just wondering why the sudden change." she quickly ate the rest of the fruit and then opened the bottle of juice.

He shrugged, "I don't know. He's slowly proving himself. I'm not saying I trust the guy one hundred percent, but he's legitimately worried about you and this power overload thing. Figured if he's going to stick around for a while I might as well use his name."

Ana hummed in response as she downed the juice from its bottle, "Where are he and Sam anyway?"

"Connor's going to help us track down the vamp nest with a spell and he needed somethings. They've been gone for a while so they'll probably be back soon." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and pulled up Sam's number, "What do you want for lunch?"

"I honestly don't care. I'm so hungry I'd eat anything." She answered, preparing to get out of bed to throw her trash away.

Dean stood up quickly and pushed her back down on the bed, taking the trash out of her hands, "Hey, Sammy. You guys almost done?" he spoke into the phone as he moved across the room to throw the containers away. "Good. Pick up some lunch on your way back? Ana's awake and apparently starving." The aforementioned girl scowled at him, "Sounds good. See ya soon."

"So am I not allowed to get out of bed?" Ana huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, she hated being treated like a child when she was sick.

"You need to rest and after seeing you the way you were…" he shook his head as he moved back across the room to sit next to her, "It was a close call and I don't want to see you like that again."

With a nod she dropped the subject, she could see how much it had scared him, "So… what happened to Luke after I passed out?"

"Well," he drew out the word, "Connor and I may have threatened him… a little."

"A little?" She raised an eyebrow at him, "Dean Winchester doesn't do little threats, they're normally dramatic and kind of scary."

His brow furrowed, "I am not dramatic." he argued, "Though I do pride myself on being scary when need be. That kid was a down right dick, Ana, how did you end up with him in the first place?"

"I really don't want to have this conversation with you." She turned to adjust her pillow, avoiding his gaze.

Dean watched her a minute before standing back up from the bed, "Fine, but do me a favor?" he paused, waiting as she turned back around to look at him, "Don't make guys like him a trend."

Ana rolled her eyes, "Actually, I don't think you need to bother worrying about that happening again. I'm batting for the other team now."

He had just began to walk away when she made the comment, which made him stop dead in his tracks and turn back to look at her, "Oh, really?"

"Yep." she answered, popping her lips on the last letter, "You men are all trouble. At least I semi-understand women." she tugged at the blanket that laid over her, trying her best to not let on to her joke by avoiding eye contact.

"Right." The word came out in a tone that gave off the impression he didn't believe her, but before he could say such his phone rang. Pulling it out of his pocket, he glanced that the screen, "Speaking of batting for the other team." he mumbled as he placed the phone to his ear, "Heya, Charlie. How've you been?"

Ana's perked up at the name, "Oh, you have got to let me talk to her!" she demanded, kicking the blanket off of her and scooting closer to Dean, reaching her hand out for the device.

"Hold on, Charlie." he moved the phone away from his face, "You know about her?" he raised an eyebrow. They still hadn't gone through everything Ana had seen in her visions before they'd met her.

"Of course I know about Charlie! She was honestly a fresh breath of air when all of my visions were doom and gloom, then pow! Charlie Bradbury pops in and gave you two chuckleheads something you desperately needed." She set both hands on her hips, giving her father a pointed look. "Now, let me talk to her."

Dean put the phone back to his ear, "Hey." he paused, listening to whatever Charlie was saying, "No, that was not…. Look, there's a lot you've missed out on. We'll talk about it later." pause, "Yeah, what's up?"

It quickly became clear that he wasn't going to hand over the phone which caused Ana to frown at him. Giving a quick look around the room, she moved over to the other side of the bed and stood up, but before she made it more than a step Dean was clearing his throat to get her attention. A glance over her shoulder showed him pointing to the bed with a stern look, "Dad, chill. I'm just going to the bathroom." she informed him as she walked toward the door.

"Yes, she did just call me dad and no that is not a weird bedroom name. Gross, Charlie." Ana heard Dean say as she closed the door. Standing in front of the sink, she looked at herself in the mirror. Man, did she look bad. Her skin was still paler than it normally was, causing the light freckles that covered her nose and cheeks to stand out further. The green of her eyes wasn't as lively as it normally was and her hair seriously needed to be washed.

Quickly, she exited the room, found her duffle bag, and then retreated back into the bathroom before her father could try and stop her. Digging out her toiletries, she placed them in the shower and turned on the water, letting it warm up before she stripped her clothing and stepped under the warm spray.

Halfway through her normal routine there was a loud bang at the door, "Hey! You better still be alive in there! I don't believe showering was in the 'stay in bed' plan." Dean shouted through the door.

"Can't a girl shower in peace!" She yelled back, "I may feel like crap, but I think I can handle a shower alone. That is, unless you wanted me to wait until Connor got back, so I could be supervised."

Dean shook his head and ran a hand over his face, pausing as Sam and Connor came through the door, "Hurry it up! The food is here!" he told her before stalking over to the table where Connor was setting a couple of sacks on the table.

"Is it a good idea to have her showering?" Connor raised an eyebrow, "She could barely stand after she got sick this morning."

"You really think she asked me for permission?" Dean raised an eyebrow as he grabbed a red and white chinese food container out of one of the bags, "She seems to be feeling better though." he jabbed a fork into his food and sat down, "Oh, Charlie called. Sounds like there's some weird stuff going on in Ohio. I told her we would meet her there after we deal with these vamps and get Ana back to the bunker."

Ana opened the door, looking a little better than she had when she went in the bathroom and more comfortable in sweats and a tee shirt. She shook a towel through her wet hair and looked at her father, "There is no way in hell you're taking me back to the bunker. I want to meet Charlie and help with whatever is going on."

"No." Sam and Dean spoke at the same time, which caused them both to cast each other a glance before turning their attention back to her. "I said no hunting." Dean added.

Sam shook his head at that, "You are in no shape to be doing much of anything right now but resting. Plus, you and Connor need to work on a way to fix this power overload thing."

"So you're both okay with leaving Connor and I alone in the bunker?" She raised an eyebrow at them, watching as Connor sat quietly eating his food.

"One of us will stay with you." Sam offered, grabbing a container of food and walking over to give it to her, "You could have died, Ana, and we're not going to let that happen again."

Dean cleared his throat, "This thing in Ohio sounds pretty big, Sammy." he pointed out.

"How big?"

"Demonic omens big. There's enough of them for it to be a large gathering." Dean answered, glancing at Ana before turning his attention back to Sam, "We may need to call in some extra help on this one."

With a dramatic sigh, Ana balled up the towel in her hands and threw it at her dad, "Or, you know, you could take your mass demon killing witch daughter with you." she grabbed the container of food that Sam offered her, sitting down on the bed to eat.

"There's no telling when you're going to be able to do that again, Ana." Connor chimed in, "You need to rest and get back to normal before we can begin to determine where to go from here with your magic."

"So here's the deal," Ana looks each man in the eye, "I am going to stay in bed all day and recoup while you three do what you need to find the vampire nest. Once this job is taken care of we will all spend one more night here and we will all leave in the morning for Ohio, to help Charlie with this demon thing. If any of you try to tell me otherwise, I will find a traveling spell and use that to get me there. Those are your options."

Dean scoffed, "Your mother was good at bargaining in a way that didn't actually give me a choice either."

"Like you or Sam have never done it." She retorted, before turning her attention to Connor. "We can figure all of this out while we're on the road. I'm not going to just ignore this, I can't, but I'm also not going to spend anymore time locked up in the damn bunker."

Connor gave her an amused smile, "Yes ma'am."

"You cave way too quickly." Dean told him as he shoved a fork full of food into his mouth.

"It's not my job to order her around. I'm just here to teach her what I can and keep her alive." Connor didn't take his eyes off of Ana, "Plus, she gets that same murderous look in her eyes that you do and, let me tell you, it's much more frightening coming from a short redheaded female than it is coming from you."

Sam chuckled at that, shrugging at the glare he received from his brother as he continued to eat his food. Dean sighed, realizing that this was one of many battles he wasn't going to be able to win with Ana, "Fine, you get to come with, but your first priority is to deal with your magic. Leave the demons to us. Got it?"

She grinned at him, "Until you need my help, I will focus on magic stuff, but you're going to need my help. I can feel it. Whatever this is, it's not just big, it's going to get worse before it gets better."

"Did you have a vision?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow at her words.

"No," Ana shook her head, "It's just this strange feeling I have in my gut. Call it witches intuition."

All three men seemed to take that answer in a different way, but Ana was too busy devouring her food to care about anything. That is until she remembered that her car was still parked at her house and she didn't really want to break it to her aunt that she was leaving for God knew how long. "Shit! Is my car still at my house?"

Dean nodded, "We were going to go back and get it at some point today, but I figured you should talk to Heather before we leave again. We'll get it later."

She scowled at him, "It's going to kill her that I'm just up and moving like this."

"That woman already hates me, I'm not going to let you make that worse because you don't want to talk to her." He countered, "You're just going to have to suck it up."

"It would be worse if you didn't tell her face to face. Sneaking in while she's at work and packing your things is a pretty bad move." Sam added as he sat beside her on the bed. "Plus, I think it will be a great time for Dean to catch up with her." he grinned.

Dean glared at his brother, "Oh, no. I did not agree to that. Did you miss the part where I said she hates me?"

Sam shrugged, "She's been raising your daughter for the past eighteen years, the least you can do is talk to the woman." The older Winchester just grumbled in response.

Silence fell over the room as they finished their food, each person occupied by their own thoughts. When everyone was done eating Connor began to set up everything he needed for the spell. Ana had tried to get up from her bed to help and maybe learn something, but with a stern look from her father she sat back down with a frown. The witch mixed the ingredients and chanted before pouring the thick black liquid he concocted onto the map laid across the table. The brothers stood back and watched as the liquid began to separate into different size dots, each dot stopping at a different location on the map.

"Okay, so the smaller dots are most likely single entities. A witch or ghoul or what have you that works alone. The larger the dots, the larger the groups." Connor explained as he looked over the map, Sam and Dean joining at his sides. "You said the attacks were in this small town, right?" he pointed to Huntley on the map.

Sam nodded, "Yeah, but with how open the land is out here, we're figuring a fifteen mile perimeter around it as the search radius for the nest."

Dean nodded, "Looks like most monsters are closer to the big cities. What are we looking at? Two in the area?" he drew a circle around the area of Huntley with his finger.

"Looks like this here is just one, maybe two at most." Connor pointed north of the town, "This one is going to be your best bet." he pointed to the largest dot to the west, between the small town and the city they were in.

Ana stood up while they were staring at the map and snuck up to Dean's side, taking her own look at the map, "Hey, get back in that bed." he looked down his shoulder at her.

"Would you hush? I'm not going to die just from standing up." she smacked his shoulder with the back of her hand, not taking her eyes off of the map, "That's an old dirt road. Bunch of farms all along these roads that come off of the highway." she traced her finger over the lines. "If I was trying to corral a bunch of rabid new vampires, a big barn would be a smart place to do it."

Sam watched as she traced her finger along the road, "Surrounded by however many acres of empty land, whoever is leading them has at least some experience... So why are they leaving the bodies out in the open?"

Dean shrugged, "Who the hell knows. Let's just go gank them so we can get on the road to help out Charlie."

"We still have a lot of sunlight to work off of. We could probably head out now, find the place and kill them before night sets in." Sam suggested, looking up from the map.

"Sounds good, let's get rolling." Dean placed a hand on Ana's shoulder and turned her around, directing her back to bed, "You rest, we'll go take care of this nest and then bring back dinner." when she was sitting down he turned to grab his jacket. Putting it on, his eyes landed on Connor, "If you have to tie her down to keep her there, do it."

With a grin, Connor turned to look at Ana, "Hear that? Your dad said I could tie you down." he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Dean's face fell into a scowl, "Seriously? I'm right here!" he looked between the two of them, "Keep the dirty sarcasm to yourself." he growled at Connor before walking toward the door.

Ana quickly got off of the bed and grabbed Dean's wrist, stopping him before he could walk out of the door, "Be careful, alright? I know you've gone after bigger and badder things than some vampires, but still… keep each other safe." she glanced around him at Sam, who stood by the door waiting.

"We'll be fine, Ana." Sam gave her a reassuring smile.

Placing a hand on her head, Dean ruffled her hair, "You just worry about you, okay? We'll be back before you know it. Now get back in bed." She wrapped her arms around him in a quick hug before letting go and turning back to her bed. He waited until she was seated before turning and following Sam out of the door.

Once the brothers were gone Ana and Connor situated themselves on her bed like they had been that morning. They turned on the one semi-decent show they could find, some comedy that neither of them had heard about, and prepared for the long wait that it would take for the older men to return. Neither of them spoke much, just laughing here and there, and making comments about the horrible one-liners when they surfaced.

A couple of hours had passed when Connor noticed that the girl next to him couldn't sit still. If she wasn't playing with her hair, she was pulling at the blankets on the bed. "They'll be okay, Ana. It probably took them a while to find the nest."

She nodded, though she was still worried, "Can I ask you something?" she looked over at him, his slightly long hair was a mess from moving around on his pillow.

When his eyes landed on her's he smiled, "Of course."

"How old are you?" She'd been wondering about it for a while, he didn't look like he was much older than his early twenties, but he didn't act like the irresponsible twenty-somethings she had met before.

"Twenty-two. How old are you?" He raised an eyebrow, once he'd actually come face to face with her, felt her power right in front of him, her age no longer mattered. It seemed that she was going to completely break all of the rules of her family before her, he knew that she was more powerful than all of her family had been at her age, whatever it may be.

"Eighteen."

The look of shock that crossed his face made Ana laugh, "There is no way! Are you still in high school?"

She shook her head, "I started a year earlier than most people, something about my birthday falling just before the cut off date or whatever. I graduated in May."

"Well, look at you, miss smarty-pants." he teased, still not caring that she was considerably younger than him. Though he knew that if what they saw in her vision was to come to reality that Dean would be extremely angry.

In response she stuck her tongue out at him then turned back to watch the TV. A few minutes passed before she looked out the window, "Sunset is still a couple hours away…" she trailed off and looked at him, "They'll be back, right?" her thoughts were filled with worry that something would go wrong and that they wouldn't make it back. She wasn't sure that she could go through this whole witch business without them to be there for her.

Connor reached over and took her hand, "You think that the mighty Winchester brothers are going to let a group of new vampires get the jump on them? There's no way that Dean would let that happen, he and Sam both care about you too much to leave you now."

"Thanks." she spoke softly, grateful that she wasn't alone waiting for her family to return.

A few more episodes of the show later and Ana's phone began to ring. She quickly grabbed it off of the nightstand next to her and glanced at the screen for only a moment before she was answering, "Did it go okay? Please tell me you and Sam are both in one piece." the words flew out of her mouth.

"We're fine, Ana. It was pretty cut and dry, even the vampire that was turning the new ones was there." Dean explained, "We lucked out that they were all there. How are things going with you?"

She let out a relieved sigh and smiled, "Things are fine here. I'm feeling better." she assured him.

"Connor didn't have to tie you down?" He spoke over the sound of the Impala's engine starting.

"Nope. I behaved, haven't tried to do anything crazy."

Dean smiled, "Good. We're on our way back, feeling like leaving the room for a bit? We can find a diner or something for dinner."

Ana began to nod and then paused, realizing he wouldn't see her, "I think I could handle being out for a while, fresh air might do me some good." she paused as the call-waiting sound chimed in her ear, glancing at the screen she swore, "Heather's on the other line."

"Well, talk to her and we'll see you guys in a bit." With that he hung up, leaving her to talk with her aunt.

Accepting the call, she winced before putting the phone back to her ear, "Hey, Heather."

"So I'm just going to assume that the magical car fairies delivered your car to my house, because you're no where to be found and the girl I raised would have let me know that she was going to be trekking back across the country to come home." Heather didn't sound angry, just curious.

Glancing over at Connor, she realized that he had been staring at her the entire time she'd been on the phone, "I'm back in town." she assured her aunt, "I'm with a friend right now, but I'll be dropping by soon. There's some things I need to tell you about."

"Okay, honey, I'm just glad your back and safe." She could hear the smile in her aunt's voice.

Giving a brief pause, Ana contemplated telling Heather that she would be bringing company with her. She knew Connor would have to be there and she wasn't sure she could have this conversation without Dean and Sam there with her. It was going to break Heather's heart to see her leave. "I'm going to be bringing some people with me."

"Dean?" Heather questioned, "Did he come with you?"

"Yeah, Dean and his brother Sam followed me up." she answered, "We'll be by later to visit. I love you!" she hurried the rest of her words and then hung up.

Connor laughed softly, "So that sounds like it's going to be fun."

Ignoring his comment, she stood up, "My dad and Sam are going to be back soon, we're going to go out for dinner."

With a nod, Connor stood up and moved over to where he'd left his boots by the table. It didn't take them long to get ready to go and once the brothers were back they cleaned themselves up quickly so they could leave to eat.

-A-

Ana had explained her phone call with Heather while they ate and once they were finished they went back to her childhood home. The moment they were through the door Heather was snapping at Dean for missing out on Ana's life and not being there for Stephanie while she was pregnant. Once they had each gotten done yelling at each other, Heather seemed to realize that there were other people in the room.

"What's going on, Ana?" The woman could tell her niece wasn't feeling well and the boy who was sitting next to her on the couch seemed to be acutely aware of the fact. A thought struck Heather and she felt her stomach churn, "Oh, God, you're not pregnant are you?"

The question shocked everyone in the room, Ana the most, "Heather, I was gone for two weeks. I didn't get pregnant that fast."

"Well, we've always been pretty open about everything in this house, but that doesn't mean you couldn't have hid a relationship with this boy from me." she pointed out.

Ana laughed at that, "I met Connor a few days ago. I am not pregnant, I promise. Just haven't been feeling too good, you know how I get in the fall."

Heather nodded, the girl always got sick when the weather changed. "So, what did you need to talk to me about that you had to bring bodyguards for?"

The girl took in a deep breath, "I'm going to be moving in with Sam and dad for a while."

"Dad?" Heather raised an eyebrow, shooting a glare at Dean before turning her attention back to Ana. "How long is a while? You're not just going to disappear on me, are you?"

Frowning, Ana stood up from the couch and moved to stand in front of her aunt, "No, I'm not going to disappear on you. There's just some stuff I have to take care of with them." she grabbed her aunts hand, "I've spent my whole life wondering about the other side of my family and now I finally have the chance to learn about them."

Heather nodded, tears forming in her eyes, "I understand, I just want you to be careful." she pulled Ana into a hug, "You've always been wise beyond your years, Anastasia, don't forget to listen to your head."

Returning the hug with a tight squeeze, she pulled away and smiled up at the woman who had raised her, the only family she'd know before she met the Winchesters. "I love you."

"I love you too, Ana." Heather placed a kiss on her forehead before letting her go and turning to look at Dean, "You better take good care of my girl, Winchester." she warned him.

Seeing the two interact, Dean began to understand why Heather was so protective of his daughter, she had been the only one left for Ana when Steph died. "I will." the words a promise he meant to keep, though he knew better than anyone how hard it would be to not break it.

Ana and Heather said their goodbyes, though Ana was beginning to feel a lot better, she was still weak and was quickly becoming tired. Connor helped her into the passenger seat of her car and followed the Impala back to the hotel. When they arrived she was barely awake and required more than a little help getting inside. Sam had excused himself to the room he was sharing with Connor as the witch moved around the car to get Ana out. Realizing that she was basically dead on her feet, Connor picked her up as Dean unlocked the door to her room. By the time he got her inside and laid down on the bed, she was passed out.

Dean watched the kid as he closed the door, noticing how careful he was with Ana. Shrugging out of his jacket he tossed it on the foot of his bed as Connor took off her boots and then helped her out of her jacket. Once the blanket was covering her, Connor turned to look at Dean, "She should sleep like a rock."

"Think she'll be okay to travel tomorrow?" Dean asked, walking over to the table to crumple up the map they had used to locate the vamp nest.

Connor nodded as he walked toward the door that connected the rooms together, "She should be fine. I'll drive so she can rest on the way there, but it wouldn't surprise me if she was almost back to normal by tomorrow evening."

Nodding, Dean watched his daughter a moment before he turned to look at Connor, "Thanks for keeping an eye on her."

"Of course. Good night, Dean." Connor opened the door and walked into his room.

"Night." Dean offered in response, waiting until the door was closed again before he got himself ready for bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day and he hoped that whatever was going on where Charlie was that they could handle it.

 _A/N: Who is excited for Charlie?! I know I am! Let me know what you guys think of the chapter or the story in general. Thanks for reading!_


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N: Hello my dears! Chapter 15 is here, can you believe it? I can't! As a sort of celebration for making it this far with this story I have brought back two of my favorite canon characters in this chapter! It's pretty amazing if I do say so myself. Quick hello and thank you to the new favorites and follows! As always DracoPotter80 thank you for the review! Enough of my yapping, please enjoy this new addition!_

Ana slept soundly through the night and when morning rolled around, Dean was glad to see that she was still asleep when he woke up. He began to pack up all of his things, wanting to get to Charlie as fast as they could; the fact that she was in the middle of some weird demonic gathering alone made him uneasy. After putting his bag in the Impala, he stopped at the outside door of Sam and Connor's room, then knocked.

Sam opened the door, "Hey," he gave his brother a confused look, "Why didn't you just use the other door?"

"Ana's still asleep and I want to let her rest until just before we have to leave." He explained as he walked in the room, seeing that both of it's occupants were almost packed up. "Charlie's in Brecksville, it's about a day's drive. So we'll probably get a room for the night halfway there. If we haul ass we'll make it a little further before we stop."

Connor zipped up his bag and threw it over his shoulder, "Sounds like a good plan to me. On our way there I should make a stop in Elyria, it's not far from Brecksville. If we're going to be in a town filled with demons I should pick up some supplies."

"Supplies?" Dean raised an eyebrow, they had an arsenal in the trunk of the car.

The witch nodded, "Basic spell stuff. I'd rather be prepared and not have to realize I could have done something and not had the supplies for the spell."

Sam and Dean exchanged a look, then nodded, the kid had a point. "Alright, why don't you two load up and I'll go wake up Ana." Dean offered, using the door that connected the two rooms. Closing the door behind him, he froze when Ana wasn't in her bed.

The bathroom door opened, the girl moving quickly out of it with her hands full of bottles, "There you are." she gave her father a smile, "When I woke up and you weren't here I assumed we'd be leaving soon."

He watched her with careful eyes, she looked a lot better than she had last night, but he could tell she still wasn't back to being one hundred percent. "I wanted you to get a little more rest so I let you sleep, but we're all loaded up and ready when you are."

"I'll change quick, the rest of my stuff is already packed up." She grabbed the fresh clothes she'd laid out and walked back into the bathroom. Making quick business of changing into jeans, a plain black tee shirt, with her purple hoodie over it, she was out of the bathroom in record time. Shoving her dirty clothes in her bag, she zipped it and tossed it to Dean. "I'm ready." she gave him a grin, slipping into her boots and following him out the door. Remembering something, she grabbed Dean's elbow before he could get too far away from her, "Hey, can we make a couple of quick stops before we leave town?"

He turned to look at her, "Stops where?"

"There's just someone I need to see before we go." She answered, her tone soft as she thought about the person it would be hardest to leave behind.

"Sure, we can't stay long though." Dean answered as he handed her bag to Connor and took the other room key out of Sam's hand. "I'll go check us out then we can hit the road." he stated before walking toward the main office.

"How are you feeling?" Sam asked Ana as he walked over to her, pulling her into a quick hug. He had left Dean and Connor to do most of the fussing over her, but he was so glad that she seemed to be doing better.

Ana smiled, returning the hug, "I'm good, Sam." she assured him.

They separated as Dean walked back over, "Alright, we're good. You two ladies done hugging it out so we can get a move on?"

"Be nice, dad. You know, normal families hug, they show affection." Ana poked him in the chest as they passed each other to get in their respective cars.

Dean scoffed, "In case you missed the memo, we're a bit left field from normal." he paused, "Where's our first stop?"

"We're stopping somewhere?" Sam asked as he moved over to the other side of the Impala.

Ana nodded, "I just need to stop by the store, it'll be a quick in and out. Then we'll hit the last place after. I'll give Connor directions and you can follow us."

Dean nodded, "You have an hour to get this all done. Can you manage that?"

"It shouldn't take that long." she answered as she got into her car.

-A-

The stop at the small grocery store was quick, just like Ana said, and when she got back into the car with a small bouquet of flowers in her hand Connor didn't question it. He followed her directions carefully and when he pulled the car in to their destination he realized what she was doing. He carefully navigated down the small road that led through the cemetery, pulling over to the side when she asked him to.

Dean watched as Ana got out of her car, he had realized who she had to say goodbye to as they pulled in. "Don't you think you should go with her?" Sam asked, watching as Ana bent down to tell Connor something before closing the door.

"If she wanted me to go with her, she would have said so." Dean pointed out, eyes focused straight ahead.

The younger Winchester sighed, "Don't let this be like the time in the cemetery with mom. She's your daughter and she's going to her mother's grave. Go with her."

He only glanced at Sam before looking back to Ana, watching as she slowly walked toward the rows of headstones. The further she walked her shoulders seemed to slump, he knew this couldn't be easy for her. With a sigh he got out of the Impala and began to follow her.

Ana had walked the path to her mother's grave so many times that she didn't even really have to pay attention to where she was going any more. When she reached the row, she took a right and moved a couple of more feet before stopping. _Stephanie Michelle Walker. February 22, 1979- August 13, 1997. Mother. Daughter. Sister. Friend._ The words etched into the stone were already burned into Ana's memory, but she still read them each time she came. "Hey, mom. I know it's been a few weeks, but things have been kind of crazy." she began to speak, sitting down cross-legged at the foot of the grave.

Dean stopped a few feet back when she sat down, not wanting to intrude on her one sided conversation. "I found my dad, Dean, and I'm going to be spending a lot of time with him. That's why I'm not going to be by to see you for a while. I know you'd understand, dad says you were the most understanding person he ever knew." she paused, wiping a tear off of her cheek, "The world that he lives in, the one that I've been pulled in to, is kind of scary. I have a bad feeling about what we're up against, but I know that dad and his brother, Sam, will keep me safe." she stood up and placed the flowers on the headstone. "We've got to get going, but I wanted to make sure I said bye before we left. I love you, mom." she turned away from the grave and paused when she saw Dean, "Dad?"

"You okay?" he asked, closing the distance between them and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, hugging her to his side.

Ana nodded, "I'm good. You ready to go?" she rested her head against his arm.

"Yeah, yeah." His eyes focused on the headstone, he pulled her tight against his side.

"I know you're not good with this kind of stuff, but you can talk to her if you want." She offered, voice soft. One of the visions she had before she met the brothers was of their fight in the cemetery their mother was buried in.

Dean shook his head, "I don't think so, kid." he turned them around, forcing himself to look away from the headstone, "Come on, we should hit the highway." Their walk back to the cars was silent, but neither moved from their half embrace. They separated to get into their cars and neither of the men that had stayed behind asked anything about what was said while the father and daughter were gone.

-A-

The drive was longer than any Ana had ever been on before. Between her sleeping and working with Connor on memorization of herbs while she was awake, the first day went by pretty fast. It was well past night fall when they found a small town with a hotel right off the highway to stop at. Ana had offered countless times to take a turn driving, but Connor refused and she could tell he was wearing down.

They parked her Saab next to the Impala and watched as Dean walked into the office to get them situated for the night. Ana yawned as Sam stood out of the Impala and walked over to her side of the car, he opened the door and looked down at them, "You guys both look like you're ready to crash for the night."

"Connor is more than ready for some sleep, I've had three naps though so I'm feeling alright." Ana assured her uncle, looking over at Connor who seemed to be nodding off already.

Sam laughed softly, "I forget that most people aren't used to long car trips like Dean and I are." he watched as the witch's head lolled to the side. "I'm glad we stopped when we did."

"No kidding." Ana commented, looking up as Dean walked over to her car.

"Looks like we're all sharing a room tonight." He grumbled, passing Sam the key, "At least we kind of lucked out though, two beds, a pull out couch and they had a cot."

Ana shrugged, "I'll take the couch, I'm pretty sure Connor won't care where he sleeps. Now, the only problem is going to be getting him into the room." she pointed out.

Dean looked at Connor a moment before moving around to the other side of the car. In one smooth movement he jerked the door opened and screamed really loud at the same time, causing Connor to jump and look around fear. The look on his face caused all three Winchesters to break into laughter. Scowling, Connor glared at Dean who was still standing by his door, "Was that necessary?"

"I haven't had a good laugh in a while which made it totally necessary." Dean answered, still laughing, "Now, get up before you fall asleep again."

The witch grumbled and got out of the car, stretching out his stiff body, "Ana, your car is way too small." he commented, moving around to the trunk to grab their bags.

Ana rolled her eyes, getting out of the car as well, "It wouldn't be too small if you weren't so freaking tall." she retorted, grabbing her bag before he could, "I told you that you should have let me take a turn driving."

"You needed another day to rest, I'll let you do some of the driving tomorrow." Connor closed the trunk and walked over to where Sam and Dean were grabbing their stuff out of the Impala. "Are we planning on leaving early?" he glanced at his watch, it was almost midnight.

Sam nodded, leading the group to their room, "We're about ten hours from Brecksville and if we leave about seven we can get there before night fall." he unlocked the door, pushing it open so everyone could come in behind him. It wasn't the worst room he and Dean had ever stayed in, but it was still pretty bad.

It didn't take the group long to settle down for the night. Connor was happy to sleep anywhere so he took the cot without a fight and Ana didn't even bother pulling out the hide-away bed deciding that the couch itself would be comfortable enough. It took a little while longer for her to fall asleep than normal, the three separate naps she took in the car probably having something to do with it. She listened as the steady breathing of the three men filled the room, letting the calming rhythm of it slowly lull her to sleep.

-A-

The next day they made it to Brecksville just before six that night, even with Connor's quick stop in Elyria they made incredibly good time. Ana followed the Impala into town and to the motel that Charlie had given them the name of. After their encounter with the fairy in Michigan it hadn't taken the tech savvy woman long to jump head on into the hunting world, though she had been sticking to smaller game, she had made it clear that this demon case was the biggest she had come across.

By the time they parked the cars and Dean went to figure out their room situation, Ana was bouncing in her seat. Out of all of the people she had seen interact with the Winchesters, Charlie was at the top of her favorites list and now she got to not only meet her, but work alongside her. Though how much work her father and uncle would let her do on this job was probably minimal.

"Would you calm down?" Connor flicked his gaze over at her, before turning it back out of the window. He had been on high alert since they entered the city and her excited energy was rolling off of her in waves, it was distracting.

The girl scoffed, "Yeah, I'll work on that." she told him while opening her door, she couldn't sit any longer. Moving quickly over to the Impala, she tapped on the passenger side window to get Sam's attention.

"Looks like you're feeling better." He commented with an amused smirk as he opened up his door.

"Actually I am, but this is all just excitement." Ana explained, looking around the parking lot. She glanced behind her to see her father walking over to her and Sam.

Dean sighed, "Alright, I got our room situation figured out. Let's get unpacked and head to Charlie's room."

Sam stood out of the car, his attention just to Dean and Ana's right, "Looks like she found us first." he commented with a smile, "Hey Charlie!" he waved at the red head walking their way.

"Sup, bitches?" Charlie greeted with a grin, moving to give Sam a hug and then forcing Dean to partake in one as well. "Who's the jailbait?" she questioned, giving them each a look before her eyes stopped on Ana.

Connor had walked up to the group while they were greeting each other and couldn't help but to laugh at name Charlie had just called Ana. "I'm going to have to remember that one." he muttered to no one, but Ana glanced over her shoulder to glare at him.

Turning her attention away from Connor and to the woman in front of her, she smiled, "My name is Ana Winchester." she offered her hand.

"Winchester?" You could see the wheels turning in Charlie's head as she tried to come up with an explanation, she shook the girl's hand before looking back to the brothers, "Which one of you mail ordered a bride? She's hot, but that's super creepy."

Connor snickered at her comment but quickly stopped at the glare he received from Dean. With a huff, the man took a step to stand to the side of the women. Part of his brain wondering if he needed to protect his daughter from the possibility of his pseudo little sister's affection, "Charlie, this is my daughter, Ana." he explained.

"Daughter?" Charlie's eyes went wide as she looked back and forth between Ana and Dean. "Dude, you procreated?! When did this happen? Unless there's some weird time loop thing going on this is something you could have mentioned before."

"At least I'm not the only one who feels that way." Sam muttered.

Charlie turned her head to look at Sam and then turned back to Dean, slapping him in the chest, "You didn't even tell your brother? What the hell, Winchester?"

"Can we have this conversation inside?" Dean grumbled, beginning to realize that he was going to have to explain the whole story to any of their friends that he and Sam came across if they had Ana in tow.

"Demons." Ana spoke without a conscious thought, interrupting the banter. Once the word was out of her mouth she looked around the parking lot, but she couldn't see anyone other than the group she was standing amongst.

Connor's eyes began to roam over their surroundings as he moved closer to her, "I don't see anything, Ana." he pointed out once he was by her side.

She shook her head, "I can feel it, we should get inside. Now." moving quickly to the trunk, she grabbed her bag, which held her new pistol. The first one Dean had given her had been left behind after the showdown with Barbas.

Connor moved with her, pulling his bag out of the trunk as well. Once Sam and Dean had their bags they walked quickly toward their room. "Ana, are you sure?" Dean glanced over his shoulder at her. When she nodded he picked up his pace, hurrying everyone into their room, and then tossing both duffle bags he held on to the bed. Opening one, he pulled out two large containers of salt and tossed one to Sam.

After both brothers were certain that all of the room's entrances were covered, they turned to look at Ana who was sitting at the table in front of Connor. They seemed to be in the middle of something witchy, Ana's hands were on his temples and it seemed that they were both focusing on something.

"What are they doing?" Charlie asked, walking over to stand next to Dean. The man only shrugged in return. "So, did you not know you fathered a child or…?"

"I left." He said it in a way that made it clear that now wasn't the time to bring that conversation up.

When Ana finally pulled her hands back and they opened their eyes, Connor's brow furrowed, "This is so strange. I've never heard of a witch that can sense demons before."

"Woah, a witch?!" Charlie spun on Dean, "You're long lost daughter is a witch?" her brain processing that if Ana had been the monster-y kind of witch that Dean would have handled it with the girl being his daughter, would he have?

Ana stood up and walked over to Charlie, "That's kind of how I reacted when I found out." she commented, "Apparently I'm a natural witch... I'm not evil." she added, seeing the look in Charlie's eyes.

Charlie looked at the small girl next to her, "Not evil?"

"Very far from it." Ana assured her with a smile.

With a nod Charlie looked back to Dean, "How cool is that? Your kid's a witch!"

Dean ignored the two women and walked over to Connor, "So it's not normal that she's sensing demons?" he questioned, sitting down in the chair that Ana had been in moments before.

Connor just shook his head and watched Ana, still trying to figure out how she had done it and there was no doubt in his mind that she had. She used her magic to transfer the feeling into him and he understood instantly how she couldn't have been mistaking something else.

Sam moved over to the table, "The only thing that I've ever heard of being able to sense a demon is other demons... or angels." he pointed out, taking one of the two empty chair.

"It's not like we've read up a lot on natural witches, Sam." Dean pointed out, watching as Ana and Charlie sat across the room on one of the beds. Ana was explaining to Charlie everything she had missed out on. "Let's just focus on this demon thing first and then we'll figure out what's going on with her magic when we're done."

The other two men nodded, they understood that the demon situation they were dealing with was big and that as long as the development in her magic wasn't harmful, it could wait for now. "Charlie!" Sam called her attention over, "Want to fill us in on the details of what's going on?"

"Sure!" She stood up from the bed and walked over to the table, "I was looking for a simple case when I came across some weird stuff happening here. At first the signs pointed toward a spirit, a few people commenting in the local paper that they had seen the ghost around town, cold spots, normal ghost stuff. Then a day before I got here the lightning storms started, cattle mutilations next." she shrugged, "I honestly have no idea what's going on, that's why I called you."

Ana raised an eyebrow, "The supposed ghost was seen at more than one spot?" Charlie nodded, "Isn't that weird? They normally haunt a certain place or person right?"

"Yeah, to have multiple accounts of the ghost in different locations isn't something we've come across before." Sam answered, his brain churning the information Charlie had given them.

Dean watched his brother a moment, knowing the familiar look of concentration, "You think the strange ghost sighting and this demon thing are some how connected?"

Sam was about to speak, but Ana cut him off, "It would make sense." she began, getting off of the bed to walk over to the group, "I obviously don't have as much experience with this stuff as you guys do, but a spirit going that far off from the norm and then suddenly demon omens appear. Doesn't seem like a coincidence to me."

"Witches intuition?" Dean asked, looking up at his daughter.

She shrugged, "Something like that. What do you think, Sam?"

Sam nodded, "I think you're right. Nothing in this line of work is ever a coincidence and with both of these things happening so close together, in the same place, I'd say there's some kind of connection. Though I don't know what it could be."

Dean nodded, thankful that he seemed to be surrounded by people who didn't mind thinking hard about things so he could avoid it, "How's the demon radar?" he asked Ana, standing up from the table to look out the window, being careful to not break the salt line.

"I don't feel anything like I did in the parking lot."

Connor stood and walked to stand by her, "Try something for me?" he questioned once he was in front of her. She nodded. "Close your eyes, focus on your magic, and see if you can widen the area you can feel."

"You want me to see if I can sense more than just what's immediately around me?" Ana guessed, wondering if it would work. She didn't have much more control over her magic than she had when they first started and with everything that had been going on they hadn't had a lot of time to work on it. When Connor nodded, she closed her eyes and began to focus in on her power, making sure that she wouldn't unleash the weird white light instead of trying to focus her awareness further out.

Charlie sat down next to Sam, "So if Ana is Dean's daughter, who's the guy?" she asked softly, not wanting to break Ana's concentration.

"Connor Mohr. He's also a natural witch. Their families go way back with this magic pact, Connor has had his magic basically since he was born and since Ana hasn't he's here to help her learn." he explained the short version.

All attention in the room quickly turned to Ana as she took in a sharp breath and her eyes flicked open. "What is it?" Connor asked, seeing the panic in her eyes.

The girl's breathing began to quicken and her hands began to tremble. Dean was across the room in three long strides, "Ana, you need to calm down." he instructed her, tone low. Moving her back toward the nearest bed, he got her to sit down, "Deep breaths. You're safe." he kneeled down in front of her as he spoke, remembering clearly that this is exactly how she was before her panic attack at the bunker.

Ana could feel her heart racing in her chest, the sound of blood rushing through her ears, "Dad… it's bad."

The tremors were moving up her arms and Dean was doing his best to stay calm, but he really didn't want to see her go through that again. Placing his hands on the sides of her face, he forced her to look into his eyes, "Ana, you can do this. Just take a deep breath."

Connor looked to Sam, "What's wrong with her?" he questioned, watching as Dean did his best to calm his daughter down.

"Panic attack." Sam answered, rubbing a hand over his face, wishing there was something he could do.

Ana stared into her father's eyes and forced herself to take a deep breath. She was safe, she knew that, but she hadn't been expecting the amount of evil she felt once her focus had covered most of the city. "It's big. Whatever this is, it's going to take more than the five of us to make it out alive. There are so many demons here." her hands were still shaking, but her breathing was slowly returning to normal.

"Can you show me?" Connor asked, moving over to the bed.

With a short nod, Ana grabbed her father's hands and took them off of her face slowly, giving him a small, thankful smile as she did. Connor sat down next to her and she placed her fingers on his temples like he had instructed her to before. Once they were connected, she forced her power to sweep over the city like she had before.

"Shit." Connor swore as she dropped her hands, "She's right. This is bad." he directed the words at Dean.

"Alright, we need to figure out why they're here and we need to do it yesterday." Dean turned to look at Sam, not moving away from Ana in fear that her panic attack wasn't over.

Sam nodded and stood up to grab his laptop, moving quickly back over the table to get to work. Charlie stood up, "My room is just a couple down, I'll go grab my laptop so I can dig too."

Dean shook his head, "None of us is going out alone. Use Ana's laptop, it's in her bag." he offered.

Charlie paused, giving Ana a questioning look, she knew that if someone had offered up her laptop like that she would have freaked out. When Ana nodded, Charlie grabbed the bag she watched the girl set down and dug her laptop out.

"Ana, did you sense anything other than demons?" Connor asked, faintly remembering something that didn't seem evil.

Ana's eye brows scrunched together as she thought about his question, "I'm not sure. Should we take another look?" When he nodded, she placed her hands back to his temples and let her power open up to the city around them. There was still just as many demons as there had been, but as her focus shifted, she paused at the sense of something extremely good. It was weak, but it was there and it was shining bright. "Angel." Ana stated, pulling back.

"There's an angel in town?" Dean asked, looking between the two witches.

Ana nodded, "I don't think anything else could be that pure. Though I'm not sure what an angel would be doing in a town filled with demons."

"Maybe we should call, Cas." Sam offered, his attention split between searching on his laptop and the conversation on the other side of the room.

Dean frowned, "What if this angel is working with the demons? Though Heaven's getting it crap together, there could still be a couple of rogues on the loose."

"We should figure out who it is." Connor offered, "I'm still not sure what all Ana can accomplish with her magic, but we may be able to see a face or get a name."

Ana shook her head, "No way, last time someone tried to force a name out of an angel they got their freaking eyes burned out of their sockets. No thank you."

Sam and Dean both grimaced at the memory of what happened to Pam, "I'll call Cas." Dean stated, standing up and pulling out his phone.

Castiel appeared in the room before Dean had the chance to make the call, "I can't stay long, I'll attract too many demons here. The angel Ana found, whoever he is, he is weak. I cannot find him and I am not sure if that is due to him being very good at hiding or if he has been captured by demons." he spoke quickly, "Either way, he is not working with the demons and requires help."

Ana stood up quickly, "Connor, start a tracking spell for me." she instructed moving over to Castiel, "I don't know what this is, but I can feel what needs to be done."

"A vision?" the angel questioned.

"No, I haven't seen anything, but I can feel it. I'm being drawn to this angel, I can feel part of my power tugging in the direction he's at. We need to find him and get him out of wherever he is fast." She explained, ignoring the strange look she was getting from her father.

"Looks like we need to pack heavy." Dean commented, turning to look at Sam.

Ana placed a hand on Dean's arm, "You can't come with, dad. I'm going to have Castiel fly me there, I'll do my crazy white light thing, we'll grab the angel and get back here as fast as we can."

Dean shook his head, "No way in Hell am I letting you do this with just Cas as back up. You don't even know if this angel is surrounded by demons or what." he turned to look at Connor, who was getting the spell ready, "Is she even up to something like that? It's only been a couple of days since she almost died!" he yelled the last part, turning to glare at Ana.

"She's back to full power." Connor answered, turning to focus on them once everything in his mixing bowl was ready, "I'm going to trust her on this, if she wasn't meant to go help this angel she wouldn't be feeling this way." he pointed out.

Moving over to the table, Ana grabbed the bowl and stared at it a moment before words began to come out of her mouth, words that she didn't understand the language of. Sam stopped what he was doing, the language familiar, and turned his attention to Cas, "Is she speaking Enochian?"

Castiel nodded as he moved over to where Ana was standing, "It would seem that whatever is drawing her to this angel is very strong." he answered.

Pouring the contents of the bowl over the map that Connor had laid out on the small table, she watched as the liquid burned up all of the map but one small piece, holding the intersection of two roads just outside of the main part of the town. "Charlie, you've been here longer, have any idea what's here." Ana handed the piece of map over.

"I think it's an abandoned factory of some kind, though I'm not certain." Charlie answered as she looked over the map.

"Ana, are you sure about this? There is a large possibility that we could get hurt." Castiel pointed out.

The girl took the piece of map back from Charlie and then moved over to her bag, grabbing her pistol out of it. "Yes, Castiel, I'm sure. Whoever this angel is, they're somehow calling out to me, I can feel it. We need to do this." Ana answered as she placed the gun in the waist of her jeans. "Let's go."

"Hold on a minute! You are not going out there alone!" Dean snapped, frowning at the angel and his daughter.

"I'm not asking permission, dad." She retorted calmly, placing her hand on Castiel and giving him a nod. Shortly after they were gone.

Dean clenched his jaw, "Dammit, Cas!" he yelled, knowing the angel would hear him, "If she doesn't come back in one piece I'm kicking your ass!"

-A-

Castiel and Ana appeared in the middle of the factory. It had been mostly cleared out of whatever machinery filled it so the large room was bare, all excepted for the man tied to the chair in the center of the room. Within the blink of an eye, the room was filled with demons and Ana frowned, "Should have known this was a trap of some kind."

Castiel's angel blade appeared in his hand, "I knew it was a likely possibility." he stated, "I do believe your magic will come in great use to keeping us both alive."

"No kidding, Sherlock." None of the demons moved for seconds, giving the two time for their small banter and then they all began to move at once. Ana watched as Castiel began to attack the closest demons and then she turned her focus inward, leaving her eyes open to watch the enemy, she pulled on her power until the white light exploded out of her with a force it hadn't before.

For some reason this time it was painful for the light to leave her body, and the longer she used it the more painful it got. Just before she couldn't take it any longer, a scream escaped her body and it was met by a scream just as painful from the angel that, until moments before, had been slumped over in the chair he was tied to.

Almost all of the demons around them dropped to the ground, leaving a few for Castiel to handle. Ana fell to her knees, her body trying to focus around the pain as the angel that had been tied down to the chair stood up. She couldn't lift her head very high, the entirety of her body weak from the white light, so she could only watch as the brown boots walked toward her. It took her a minute, but just before the angel stopped in front of her, Ana forced her head up so she could see his face. With a confused look, Ana frowned slightly, "Gabriel?" she questioned.

"Hello, Anastasia." The short man replied with a smile, moving quickly to grab the girl as the rest of her body fell toward the floor.

 _A/N (2): Charlie and Gabriel? WHAT?! I'm honestly so excited for to write the next chapter for you guys! Please, please, please, let me know what you think! How do you feel about the Trickster being back? I'd love to hear your thoughts! A lot will be explained next chapter so be looking forward to it! And as always my dears, thanks for reading :)_


	16. Chapter 16

Once Dean was finished yelling at Castiel, Sam walked over to him, "They'll be fine. If it gets too bad Cas will just bring her back."

"Right, because that plan has worked out so well in the past." The older Winchester snapped.

Sam sighed, "Dean, with how much Castiel has done for us you should have faith that he won't let anything happen to Ana."

Dean just ignored his brother, his thoughts filled with every possible thing that could wrong. They could be walking into a trap for all he knew. Hell, they probably were walking into a trap and we're going to be in more trouble than they had planned for. With a heaved sigh, Dean sat down, praying to anyone listening that Ana and Cas both made it back.

Charlie closed her laptop and scooted closer to Dean, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, she'll be alright. You Winchester's are hard to take down." she offered him a comforting smile.

"If it's any consolation, I can feel her magic, so she's still alive." Connor spoke up, sitting on the foot of one of the beds.

Sam raised an eyebrow, "How can you feel her with her being so far away?"

Connor shrugged, "You could say I'm more tuned in to her now. The thing where I could sense what she was feeling with the demons is similar to what gave me the first look at her power, the more we do it the more attuned I am to her." Sam nodded in understanding and silence fell over the room, each of them worried about the two who had just left.

It had been no longer than fifteen minutes when Castiel appeared back in the hotel room alone. Dean was the first to notice the fatigued angel and quickly moved across the room, "Cas, where is Ana?" Dean demanded, voice stern.

"She-" Castiel began, but was quickly cut off.

"Don't worry, I've got her Deano." Gabriel appeared by the window, an unconscious redhead in his arms. He carefully laid her down on the bed that Connor sat on. With a grin he turned to Sam and Dean, "So, did you guys miss me?"

Dean quickly closed the space between himself and the archangel, grabbing him by the collar of his brown jacket and shoving him up against the wall, "You have thirty seconds to explain why my daughter is unconscious." he threatened through gritted teeth.

"Woah there, why don't we all just calm down a little?" Gabriel cast a glance over at Sam, who looked just as happy to see him as Dean did.

"Twenty seconds." Dean countered, glaring daggers.

Gabriel rolled his eyes and snapped his figures, moving himself out of Dean's hold and across the room. "She's unconscious because she expelled all of my grace from her body."

"Your grace?" Sam questioned, borrow furrowed.

"Yeah, Samsquatch, my grace." Gabe sat down at the table, a lollipop appearing in his hand, "That whole white light nonsense that kills demons. That was my grace basically exploding out of her."

Castiel walked over to his brother, "Gabriel why did the girl have your grace within her to begin with? How are you even alive? Lucifer killed you."

At the mention of his older brother Gabriel frowned, "Lucifer _thought_ he killed me. I had this failsafe setup for a while, just in case."

"Dammit, Gabriel, that failsafe is my daughter!" Dean yelled, barely holding back the urge to shove an angel blade through the short man.

"I'm aware of that," Gabe grew serious, "why do you think I chose her? Not only would she build up on the small amount of grace I put into her, but I knew she'd find you eventually and be well protected."

"I'm gonna kill him." Dean stated, stomping across the room, being stopped by Sam's hand on his shoulder.

Sam held him there, looking at Gabriel, "What do you mean she built up on your grace?"

The archangel stood up and crossed the room, standing next to the bed Ana laid on, "She's from the Caomhánach bloodline, descendant of Sarah Good, she's going to be one of the most powerful witches this world has known. When I formulated this plan I knew I would need someone strong enough to function while guarding my grace and hopefully help it grow back to the strength it was before I had to go off of the grid." he explained, "You Winchesters can host Michael so I knew my grace wouldn't kill her if it was kept in check, which, thanks to Connor, it was."

Connor hadn't moved from the edge of the bed, his gaze focused on the unconscious girl lying next to him, "It almost killed her a handful of times." he pointed out.

"Semantics. She's still alive, isn't she?" Gabriel retorted.

"The same won't be able to be said about you." Dean threatened, trying to push his way around Sam, but his little brother wasn't budging.

Charlie stood and moved over to Dean, "Come on, papa bear, let's go for a walk." She offered, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Dean scoffed, pushing himself away from the hunters in front of him, "I am not leaving this room while he is here!" He yelled, shoving a finger in Gabriel's direction.

A groan came from the girl on the bed, "Why do I always wake up to you arguing with someone, dad?"

"Because people piss me off." He responded, anger curbing only slightly now that she was awake.

Gabriel squatted next to the bed, looking at Ana's face, "How are you feeling, kiddo?" His brow scrunched together slightly.

"Like I almost died in a factory full of demons to save a dead archangel." She stated, opening her eyes to see him right in front of her, "How are _you_ feeling, Gabriel?"

The angel grinned at her, "Better now that my grace is fully restored. Thanks for keeping an eye on it for me."

"Like I had a choice." She weakly snapped, pushing herself into a sitting position, but quickly regretting it as a wave of dizziness hit her. "Woah."

Dean crossed the room, "What's wrong?"

"Her body hasn't adjusted to being without my grace." Gabriel explained, placing two fingers to her forehead, "There. Good as new."

Once the room stopped spinning, Ana threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, "Dude, what the hell? I thought you were dead!" she glared at Gabriel, slapping his arm.

With a roll of his eyes and a shrug he let her assault on his arm pass before grabbing her hand, "Oh, Anastasia, you should've known better." The angel pulled her close to him with a tug of her hand, holding her in a formal ballroom stance he began to waltz with her out from between the beds and around the room, humming a familiar song as he did.

"Like I've never heard that one before." She grumbled, easily following his lead until he stopped and basically threw her into a low dip. "I'm not even Russian."

"Would you stop prancing around with my kid and get the hell out of our room!" Dean snapped, causing both the angel and the witch to look up from the strange embrace they were still in.

Gabriel looked back to Ana and gave her a wink before pulling her back up on her feet, "You may not be the Russian princess, but you kind of look like her." he explained, "Plus Once Upon A December was the best thing to come out of that movie."

"That's where I know that song from!" Charlie blurted out with a smile, but her grin slowly faded at the stare she received from Dean, "What? _Anastasia_ is a decent movie."

"What movie? You know what, never mind." Dean spun on Gabriel, "You can leave anytime now."

Gabriel chuckled, "You aren't getting rid of me that easy, Dean. I basically threw myself on the pyre for you and Gigantor, then left you a message of how to throw Luci back in his cage. I've more than earned my stay."

"How many times did you kill me, Gabriel? How many Tuesday's did you put Sam through?! You do a couple of good things and it's just supposed to make up for all of that?" Dean shook his head, "No, I don't think so."

"Uh, dad?" Ana stepped away from Gabriel's side and walked over to stand in front of Dean, "Can I get some questions answered before you kick him out? I kind of woke up to find out that I was carrying his grace around for however long, causes a girl to wonder a couple of things."

Dean just stared down at his daughter for a couple of moments before his expression softened just slightly, "Fine. You get it all out now though, because the moment you're done I want him gone."

"Got it. Why don't you and Sam go out for a little bit? This is obviously not a good place for you to be right now." She offered, she could feel the tension and anger rolling off of him.

He shook his head, "No, I'm not leaving you here alone with him." he all but snapped, "Plus, I'm going to want to hear what he as to say for himself about all of this."

Ana reached up and patted his shoulder, "Whatever you say, but don't interrupt me. This is between me and the angel that hid his grace in my body." she gave him a tight smile before turning to look at Gabriel.

"What do you want to know?" The shorter man crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh, I don't know, let's start with why the hell you put your grace inside of me without asking permission?!" She snapped, her anger getting the better of her. There were only a handful of things that could send Ana completely over the edge and having something done to her without her permission was one of them.

"You were twelve when I placed part of my grace in you, far too young for me to just pop in to your room and ask you about it. I wouldn't even know where to begin explaining something like that to a child. As for the reason I did it," Gabriel sighed, "I knew the world was going to go to Hell, literally, so just in case things didn't go so well for me I set up a plan to hide for a while. I knew you could handle it."

Ana rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Because that makes it okay. You may be an archangel, Gabriel, but you pull something even slightly similar to that with me again and I will make your life Hell."

"Message received." He assured her, hands up in a 'I surrender' gesture.

"Good. Next question. How are you not dead?" She had watched him die in one of her dreams and though part of her was never truly convinced, it had looked extremely real.

The angel gave her a smirk, "They don't call me The Trickster for nothing."

"That is not an answer, Gabriel." Ana placed her hands on her hips and glared at him.

He sighed, "You Winchesters, all work and no play." he grumbled, "There was more than one double in the room with Lucifer. I know my big brother, he wouldn't have stopped until he was certain I was dead. Though the first double was easy to see through, the second wasn't because I put a fraction of my grace inside of it. The burned wings thing was a special effect."

Though Ana was pissed, she could see the genius in that plan, "So part of your grace was in me, part of it died when Lucifer killed your double, is that what left you so weak?"

"Partially. I had to let a little more of it go when I went under the radar. I knew that it wouldn't take long for what I gave you to build up, but honestly I thought it would have taken a little longer than it actually did. The original plan was to wait a bit longer and then find you before it became too much for you to handle. The first time you let some of it loose, I felt it and knew that I needed to get to you before it killed you. As I was trying to find you I was captured by the group of demons. The second time I felt it, part of it made it's way back to me so I was a little stronger." He took a couple of steps toward her, "Once we were in the same city, I called out to my grace, to you. When you showed up with Cassie and unleashed it, I was able to pull all of it from you. Now the battery is fully charged and I'm back in action."

Ana nodded, processing the information, trying to make sense of it all, "So no more weird power overload? The white light thing is gone?"

Gabriel nodded, "Yep, now you're just a witch with semi-normal witchy powers."

"What do you mean by semi-normal?" She raised an eyebrow, "All of my crazy strong witch stuff isn't gone because of your grace is it? Am I weak now?" the last part was almost a whine.

That earned a scoff from the angel, "You are far from weak, Ana. I say semi-normal because you're going to be able to do a couple of things other witches can't. What those are, I'm not sure about, but we'll figure it out soon enough."

" _We_ won't be doing anything." Dean glared at the angel, "You aren't going to be hanging around much longer."

Ana looked at him, "Dad, this city is still full of demons and there's a weird ghost thing we have to deal with. It might not be a bad idea to add another angel to our group. I took out maybe a fraction of the demon population at the factory."

"There are three hunters, two witches, and an angel in our _group_. We can handle it." Dean argued.

"Or we could use Gabriel's help and not have to bury one of us." Ana argued back, "I told you before we got to the city that this was going to be big. We can use all the help we can get."

Castiel cleared his throat, walking over to the arguing pair, "Ana is right, Dean. There are a lot of demons here and we need to take care of it quickly. We could use Gabriel's help."

Dean scowled, looking to his side he caught Sam's eye and they seemed to have a silent conversation before he turned back to look at Castiel, "Fine, he can help with this demon thing and once it's over he's gone."

Gabriel closed the space between him and Ana, "I hate it when mom and dad fight." he commented softly, causing the girl to snicker. Dean shot a glare their direction, "Oh no, now I've made dad mad." the angel feigned fear.

"Hush or he's going to kill you." Ana chided him, slapping his arm. "So that's been settled," she addressed the whole room, "What's our first step with this whole thing? Obviously the demons are here for a reason and I'm going to assume that having Gabriel here has something to do with it."

Connor had been sitting silently on the bed, watching everything that happened around him, mostly what Ana had been doing, "You haven't had any more feelings since we've been here? A vision would be helpful, but if you've felt something it might lead us in the right direction."

Moving across the room, Ana sat down next to Connor on the bed. Though she knew she was surrounded by people who cared about her, or at least cared about Dean enough to care a little bit about her, she felt like Connor was her only friend in the room. Which was odd to say since they'd known each other such a short amount of time. "Just the same feeling that this is big. Not affecting the whole world big, but like whatever is going to happen next is going to affect us big time."

"Death big?" Sam questioned, now fearing for those of them in the room.

She shook her head, "No, I think if one of us was going to die I would see it. I don't know how to explain it, but we should move fast on whatever this is." Turning her attention to her father, she raised an eyebrow, "So what's the plan?"

"First order of business is making sure we're all packing. No one leaves this room without a weapon that can take down a demon." He met everyone's eyes before focusing on his brother, "Think we should check out the ghost thing first?"

Sam nodded, "Makes sense. It all started there. How much luck do you think we'll get trying to solve that with the town filled with demons?" his eyes flicked to the two angels and Ana, seeing as they were the ones that understood the severity of the problem.

Ana shrugged, "Don't look at me. With Gabe's grace out of my system I can't sense them anymore."

Castiel and Gabriel shared a look, "The city is still well populated with demons. Luck does not seem to be in our favor." Castiel answered.

"Wait!" Ana sprung up from the bed and crossed the room quickly, stopping when she was standing in front of Gabe, "The light thing. I'm assuming since little ol' me could do it that you can do it on a larger scale right?"

"And in the process blind and/or kill every human with their eyes open." Gabriel answered, raising an eyebrow. "Didn't you pay attention to any of your visions, kid? You've seen what that can do to a person."

The girl rolled her eyes, "What if they were all asleep?" she threw her hands out to her sides, "I paid very close attention, thank you. If Connor and I can do a spell that puts all of the humans within the city asleep, when we're attacked by massive amounts of demons you and Cas can do the light thing and pow! Dead demons everywhere and we can figure out the ghost thing in peace."

Gabriel glanced around Ana to look at Dean, "So, I think it's safe to say that she didn't inherit your brains in the whole genetic process."

"Would it work?" Dean all but growled, his jaw clenched.

"Technically, yes, it would work. That is if you two can put the whole city down." Gabe gestured between the two witches.

Ana turned to look at Connor, "I know there are herbs that induce deep sleep, I'm assuming there's a spell that can widen the effects."

Connor nodded, "I'm not sure how well it would work with an entire city, but there are a couple of spells we can look through."

"If we need to we can alter whatever spell we think will work best." Ana stated, turning her attention to Dean, "We may need a few things we don't have."

"You two start working on the spell, whatever you don't have we'll find a way to get." Dean assured her. He couldn't say that he was completely okay with the thought of her doing magic, a part of him was still trying to process the fact that she was a witch, but he had faith in her. There was nothing to worry about if what she was doing was good, that's what he had to remind himself of. "While you're doing that we're going to make sure we're prepared for demons and spirits."

"Good plan." Ana walked over to Connor, "The books you have with you, would they have what we need?"

Connor stood and dug the books he had out of his bag, "If not, it's going to give us a good start. That's the great thing about magic, spells aren't that difficult to form if you have the right information and enough power. Between the two of us, we have both." he gave her a warm smile and handed her a book.

-A-

The witches worked for a solid two hours, going back and forth between which herbs would be the best to use. The symbols, the words, the language; apparently it all mattered and that was something Ana hadn't been expecting. The rest of the group made sure that they were well prepared incase the plan failed for whatever reason. By the time they were both certain of the spell, there was only one last thing to take care of.

Connor grabbed a small packet full of seeds on the table and emptied some of them into his hands, "Okay. Dean, Sam, and Charlie," he called their attention to him, "you're going to need to ingest these so the spell doesn't put you to sleep with the rest of the city. It's not going to taste very good." he warned as he placed a seed in each of their hands.

"Why don't the rest of you have to do this?" Dean frowned at the seed in his palm.

Ana was tieing a small bundle of herbs together at the table, "Since Connor and I are casting the spell it won't affect us and we're both certain that Castiel and Gabriel are too powerful to be affected by it either."

Dean reached for the bottle of whiskey that he kept in his bag, "Sometimes, being human sucks." he grumbled before throwing the seed into his mouth and chasing it with the whiskey. The man began to cough, "God, the aftertaste is terrible."

"Great." Charlie whined, taking the bottle out of his hand and doing the same thing. Sam took the bottle from her hand and followed suit. When they were each done gagging over the residual taste everyone else was ready to go.

"So you two to do the spell and hang out here. We're going to see if we can hunt down the ghost. If we get into trouble, Wings One and Two," Dean jerked his head toward Cas and Gabe, "will kill the demons, we'll figure out what we can and hightail it back here."

Ana scoffed, walking over to her bag and grabbed her pistol out of it, "You're not going out there without us. If this goes wrong, you're going to need all the help you can get."

Dean frowned, "What did I say about you hunting, Ana?"

"This has gone so much further than hunting, dad. This is survival." She double checked to make sure the pistol was loaded with devil's trap bullets before placing it in the waistband on her jeans. "We do this spell and then we all go."

Connor looked over the spell they had prepared, "Actually it may work better if we do it from the center of the city." he mentioned, his focus on Ana.

She nodded, "Where were the spirit sightings, Charlie?"

The newer hunter was making sure she had back up weapons for her back up weapons, but she stopped when Ana addressed her, "Pretty close to the center of the city actually. Coincidence?"

"Not likely." Sam told her, looking to Dean, "This could be another trap."

Dean had been considering it, "How is a spirit involved in a trap? You and I know that for the most part, they just want to kill people." he turned to Charlie, "Have their been any deaths that could involve this ghost?"

The huntress shook her head, "No deaths, I was more curious about the way it was appearing to different people in different places."

Ana smiled, of course Charlie was more focused on the _why_ instead of the _kill it_ part of this particular hunt. "You have everything for the spell?" When Connor nodded, she turned to look at Dean, "Are we going to fight more on this or are you going to let me help?"

The scowl that Dean had on his face since Gabriel showed up only depend, "You do the spell and then you hold back. The only exception is if someone is hurt and you can help or there is no one around you to keep you safe. Got it?" Ana nodded meekly, "Good. Connor you stick with her the entire time, anything happens to her that you could have stopped, it's your ass." Dean quickly spun to look at Gabriel, "You." Gabriel raised an eyebrow, "You cover them during the spell and if the fight starts to go south, you get them both out."

When Dean was sure that everyone understood his orders he gave a quick nod, "Alright, let's get this show on the road. Maybe we can get the information we need to before we're swarmed by demons."

Ana raised an eyebrow at him, "I highly doubt that."

"Everyone form a small group around Gabriel and myself." Castiel instructed. With the three hunters and two witches surrounding them, the angels transported them near the center of the city. The exact center was inside of a small shop in the shopping center, so the angels decided that the alley behind it would be their best option. Thanks to the cover of night no one saw them appear out of thin air. "It would be best if you worked quickly on the spell." he told Ana, eyes looking toward one of the entrances to the alley.

As Ana and Connor got to work Dean looked around where the group stood, "Gabriel, stay with them. Charlie and Cas, take that opening," he pointed to the side that opened onto a small back road, "Sam and I will take the other." the other entrance to the alley opened to one of the city's main streets. Each pair moved to their side of the alley, watching out for anything coming their way.

Since the witches had most of the spell prepared already it didn't take them long to finish setting everything up. "Are you ready for this?" Connor gave her a worried glance, "I was hoping that your first spell would have been something simple."

"Go big or go home." Ana muttered, with a tight smile. The girl was nervous, if something went wrong they could be putting a lot of people in danger.

Gabriel watched as the witches wrapped their hands around a ceramic bowl, fingertips touching as they focused on the smoking herbs being held in it. The angel was aware of the magic rolling off of the young witch, but when the two began to incantation the strength of it wasn't a feeling he was prepared for. As their voices fell silent the bundle of herbs suddenly went up in a quick burst of flames and then they were completely gone.

"It's done." Connor looked to Gabriel, "We just need make sure it actually worked."

Each of the pairs that had been at the ends of the alley came jogging up to the witches, "Oh, it worked." Charlie told them with a smile. "It was weird, people who were driving cars just slowly pulled over to the side of the road and passed out."

Ana nodded, "It was meant to slowly set in so no one was injured. People driving had time to pull over, those standing had time to lay down." she explained.

"Alright," Dean pulled everyone's attention to him, "Let's go see if we can find this spirit and avoid demons while doing it. You have the EMF?" he directed the question to his brother.

Sam nodded, pulling the smallish device out of his pocket. "Should we split up? We'd cover more ground?"

Dean shook his head, "No, if this is a trap we should stick together. Charlie, anywhere near here a ghost sighting spot?"

"The majority of them were on that main street, though a couple were a couple of blocks in either direction." Charlie explained.

Connor placed the bowl they had used for the spell in the small pack he was carrying on his back, it held other herbs and things they might be able to use if they got into trouble. He was looking over the group but then his attention stopped on Ana, the look of concentration on her face was something he was beginning to recognize. "Ana?"

Dean moved his eyes to his daughter, "What is it?" he asked her, wondering if she was having a vision.

"I don't know." Ana answered, voice soft, her focus clearly not on the people around her as she looked down the alley toward the main street. Before she could fully process what was happening, she was walking toward the street and then her walk quickly picked up into a full on sprint.

"Ana!" Dean called, running after her with everyone else on his heels. He finally caught up with her when she stopped in the middle of the street, "What the hell was that?" he snapped at her when he was by her side, but her focus wasn't on him, it was on the something in front of her. The sound of a breath catching mid-intake pulled his attention away from the girl and to his brother, whose eyes were wide and focused in the same direction of Ana's. "What?" he yelled, spinning to see what all of the fuss was about.

There across the street, where everyone's eyes were focused, was the spirit. It was a face Ana had seen only in her dreams and she instantly understood why she had been drawn to it, in the same way she understood what she was supposed to do next. Raising her hands in front of her, she took a couple of steps forward, pulling on her power as she did so to build it, " _Vita."_ she spoke the one word with such a force that the magic that followed surrounded the spirit and glowed until the form in front of the group was no longer the strange bluish tint that came with the dead, but rosy like a living being and Ana knew that if she wanted to, she could reach out and touch the man.

Dean quickly moved to his daughter's side, not trusting his eyes and waiting for whatever was actually standing in front of them to attack, but the man merely smiled at his action. "Hello, Dean." the man spoke his first words with affection.

"Dad?"

 _A/N: Sorry about the two cliffhangers in a row, but I couldn't help myself! I just keep gaining readers and I have no words for how happy that makes me, so thank you all so much for reading, following, and favoriting! DracoPotter80 thank you for the review! Guys, let me know what you think, I don't bite and would love more feedback. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)_


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N: Hello my lovely readers! I was so excited to get this chapter up that I'm posting a day earlier than I thought I would be! I know a majority of the authors on here post on certain days of the week, but with my hectic schedule I've been sticking with posting as soon as I can for you guys. Speaking of posting my next chapter probably won't be until after Monday, I'm going out of town for my birthday and promised to spend time with my family uninterrupted by my need to write. I promise to get a new chapter up as fast as I can once I'm back! Giant thanks to LaceyoftheTypewriter for the review! I'm honestly so glad that you all are enjoying my story! Holy cow, long note, I'll stop now :) Enjoy!_

John Winchester looked exactly like he had the day he died, the only thing missing was the sling that had cradled his injured arm. His eyes studied each in the group, taking extra time to look at his two sons and then the young girl that stood next to Dean. "It's good to see you boys." his eyes teared up in a way that wasn't like him at all.

Dean didn't want to take his eyes off of his father, if whatever was standing in front of them was indeed John, but as he turned to look at his brother, his eyes fell on a group of what could only be demons and they were heading in their direction. "Gabe, get Ana and Connor out of here."

"I'm not leaving." Ana told him, following his line of sight, "You remember how to shoot a gun, old man?" She asked John as she pulled her pistol out of her jeans and handed it to him.

"So you're not leaving but you're giving your only weapon away?" Dean questioned, watching as his dad took the pistol.

Ana rolled her eyes, "We don't have time to argue. Just trust me." She turned to look at the angels that stood together. "Gabriel .223 Remington bolt action with devil trap rounds" Gabe grinned and snapped his fingers, the gun and a leather case appearing in his hands. She took the rifle and the extra ammo with a grin. "Having angels around is so awesome." She commented, slinging the rifle's strap over her shoulder. "Take Connor and I to the top of that building?" She pointed to the other side of the street. When she received a nod, she turned to Dean, "I've got your back." She assured him before Gabriel transported them to the top of the building she had pointed out.

"You kids going to be okay up here?" Gabe asked, looking down at the group they left on the street. The demons were fast approaching.

Ana nodded, "Connor has my back. You go help down there." She found a place that would give her a good line of sight down both sides of the street.

Connor watched as Gabriel left them, "What do you want me to do?" He asked, moving to stand next to her, he watched as the group below began to fend off the first assault.

"Some sort of protective barrier? Is that doable?" She loaded the rifle, ignoring the sounds of the fight that came from below them.

He nodded, "That I can do. You sure you've got this?"

Ana pulled the butt of the rifle tight against her shoulder as she took her aim, "I've got this. Might want to get that barrier up fast, once my first round is off they'll know where we're at."

The witch quickly went to work, pulling a few things out of his bag. Once he was sure that it would be strong enough to hold off the demons that would come their way, he turned to look at her, "You're good."

The second the words were out of his mouth Ana began to fire. Stopping the demons that were closer to the group, the devils trap on the rounds stopping them in their tracks. After the first four rounds she watched as her father gave a look her direction, he wasn't happy with her, she could tell.

John fired the pistol at a demon just behind his youngest son who, along with the man in the trench coat and the one the girl had called Gabriel, was fighting the demons off with blades. After each shot rang out from on top of the building a demon would stop in their tracks, "That girl has some serious aim." He grunted. "Where'd you pick up a hunter so young?"

"She's not a hunter." Dean snapped, firing his own gun. Though part of him was proud that she had thought of the plan and that she was executing it extremely well, he was still pissed that she continued to not do as she was told.

The fight continued on for a few more minutes before there was a loud yell, "Enough! We only came for John." A demon spoke up toward the back of the group.

"Why?" Sam asked, not lowering the knife in his hand.

The demon scoffed, "He escaped Hell and killed Azazel. He made a deal, his soul belongs in Hell."

"If he hasn't been in Hell this whole time, where has he been?" Dean asked, eyes flicking toward his father.

John sighed, "I've been in Heaven with your mother."

The mention of Mary made both Sam and Dean's eyes go wide. "Exactly. He escaped Hell and got a one way ticket to Heaven. Our orders were to retrieve his soul."

"Orders from who?" Sam demanded, it didn't sound like Crowley to send for one soul. The king of Hell wasn't their friend, he knew that, but surely he had better things to do than piss off the Winchesters.

The demon grinned, "Lucifer."

"Lucifer is in the cage." Castiel stated, his focus on the demons surrounding them, as was everyone's. So when there were signs of a fight breaking out on the roof where Ana and Connor were, no one noticed until the silence that had fallen over them was broken by a scream.

-A-

Ana and Connor had been focused on the group, the older witch had been certain his barrier would protect them from the demons they were up against. He wasn't prepared for the strength of the demon that actually came for them, the man easily breaking through the barrier. Both witches had quickly began to fight back, but the demon didn't seem to be wasting anytime as he pinned Connor to the ground. "Anastasia. Such a pleasure to meet you." his voice was like oil over her skin.

Ana jumped into action, but the demon simply threw her back against one of the circular metal vents that came out of the building. She grunted in pain, glaring at the man in front of her. Brown hair, blue eyes, and a smirk that she was beginning to associate with the cocky attitude every demon had. "What the hell do you want?" she bit the words out.

"Oh, Anastasia, did you really think Barbas was the mastermind behind the ritual that requires your blood?" The demon scoffed, "That imbecile wouldn't have even known it existed unless I had pushed him in the right direction. It was really no surprise that he failed in retrieving you for me."

The moment that Connor had been pinned down, he began to quietly recite a spell that would release the demons hold on him. It took a while, but when he finally felt the pressure release, he stood up and began to move toward the demon, hoping that Ana could keep him focused on her. "Ah, ah, ah, Connor." the demon chided, glancing over his shoulder at the witch, "You don't get to save the girl." and with the flick of his wrist, Connor's neck snapped.

"No!" Ana screamed, her power lashing out with the burst of energy her pain provided. The pressure evaporated and though she wasn't sure what she was doing, she focused on channeling her power out and at the demon, catching him by surprise.

-A-

"Ana!" Dean yelled, her scream having carried down to them quickly, a scream full of pain.

Gabriel's eyes had quickly focused on the roof that he had left the witches on, "Close your eyes!" he warned, throwing out his hands and unleashing the same white light Ana had while she housed his grace. Once the demons around them were dead, his focus went back to roof, where Ana and the demon she was fighting had now come in to view.

Ana threw punches backed by magic, pushing the demon closer and closer to the edge of the roof. It didn't take long for the demon to regain his footing, "You idiot child!" he growled, swinging the back of his hand at the girl's face.

After it made contact, Ana's mouth was filled with a metallic taste, but it only made her grin. She was feeding off of the physical and emotional pain, using it to fuel her power. "You really have no idea who you're messing with." she informed him, bringing up her leg and planting it with a large force against his chest, sending him flying over the side of the building. Before he hit the ground, the demon disappeared and she was joined on the roof by two angels.

"Ana, are you al-" Castiel began to ask, but wasn't able to finish as the girl ran across the roof and fell to her knees at Connor's side.

Gabriel shared a sad look with his brother before walking over to the girl who was crying over the body of her friend, "Hey, kid. May I?" he knelt down next to her, reaching his fingers out to restore the young man's life.

Just before Gabe made contact Dean and the others came rushing through the door that led from the inside of the building to the roof, "Ana!" Dean called, quickly moving to her side and pulling her into his arms.

"Connor…" Ana sobbed against her father's shoulder, who's attention was then drawn to the body on the ground next to them. "He was trying to save me."

Gabriel frowned at the pain clear in Ana's voice and then placed his fingers to the witch's forehead, using his grace to pull the departed's soul back into his body. Connor took in a deep breath as life flooded back into his body and jerked up into a sitting position, eyes frantically looking around for a threat.

Ana's spun around at the sound of his breath, "Connor!" she threw herself on the other witch, arms pulling him toward her. "You amazing, idiotic man!"

"What happened?" he questioned as he hugged her back, looking at those he could see over her shoulder.

All Ana could do in response was shake her head, tears falling from her eyes as she hugged him tight. She hadn't known Connor long, but their short time together had formed an odd bond. Maybe it was because they were both witches or because with all of the time they spent with the Winchester brothers they were the odd ones out, the new comers. Either way Ana hadn't realized how much she was beginning to care for the other witch until he was taken from her.

After a few more moments of hugging Connor, Ana pulled away and turned to look at her dad, "We should get back to the bunker, whoever that demon was wants me for the ritual."

"I thought we put an end to that?" Connor raised an eyebrow at her.

"Apparently not." She gave him a weak smile, still trying to process that he was alive. Standing up, she looked at John, "There's a lot we need to figure out. You ready to join in on what we have going on?" Through her visions she had seen every side to her grandfather and she wasn't sure how she felt about the man.

John scoffed, "Girl, I've been in this business a lot longer than you have."

"Don't I know it." She muttered, moving her attention to Charlie, "You're coming with right?"

"Daddy Winchester back from the dead and you have demons after you? I'm not going to miss out on that." Charlie told her with a reassuring smile, "Plus, being the only girl in this group of guys will drive you crazy. I can't leave you to deal with that on your own."

"Thank God!" Ana gave her a thankful look, "So… quick stop at the motel to get our things and then back to the bunker?" she aimed the question at Dean, "I don't know about you, but I'm done with being attacked by demons."

Dean nodded, "Sam, Charlie, Cas, and I will go back to the motel to grab our things. Gabriel will take you, Connor, and dad back to the bunker."

"What bunker?" John questioned, clearly not pleased with being told where to go.

"You'll see when we get there." Ana told him, before moving closer to Dean, "Should we be worried about him? She asked softly, "Are we sure it's really him?"

"I've been wondering the same thing." Dean told her, glancing at Sam, knowing that his brother was having the same thoughts. "When you get back to the bunker, have Gabriel check him out. We won't be long behind you, but if he's not really my dad, you do what you need to."

With a nod of her head, Ana turned to look at Gabriel, "Alright, let's get going before another demon shows up wanting to throw me into a volcano." She helped Connor on to his feet and moved so they were closer to the angel, "Hurry home, okay? I don't want to take any chances." she looked at the group who would be going to the motel.

"We'll be fine." Sam told her with a smile before Castiel took the group away.

Their group followed shortly after, appearing in the library of the bunker. Ana released a relieved sigh, a demon wouldn't be getting her in there. "Thanks, Gabe." she smiled at the angel, "Could I ask one more favor?"

Gabriel smiled, "I already know what you're thinking." he slowly turned his attention to the other Winchester in the room, "Johnny, you're going to want to take a seat for this."

The man had been looking around him, taking in the size of the room they were standing in, "Sit down for what?" he frowned at the shorter man, but didn't have time to say much else before Gabriel had closed the space between them and pushed his hand into his chest. John let out a painful scream as the angel dug around in his body, making sure everything was as it should be.

When he was finished, Gabriel pulled his hand out and helped John fall back into a chair. Turning his attention to Ana, he smiled, "One hundred percent human, one hundred and ten percent the ass that is John Winchester."

The girl visibly relaxed at his words, at least John wasn't a monster or missing his soul like Sam had been when he was brought back from the grave. Ana studied the man sitting in the chair, she had expected him the black out once Gabriel was done touching his soul, but he was still conscious though looking a little weak.

"What the hell was that?" John grumbled, glancing back and forth between the girl and Gabriel.

"That," Ana spoke up, moving to sit down next to him, "was an angel touching your soul. We had to make sure you weren't some sort of monster." she explained, watching as Connor took the seat next to her, he had been extremely quiet since being resurrected.

John looked at the angel. "Gabriel." the name making connections in his mind, "The archangel, right?"

"One and only." Gabriel answered, a lollipop appearing in his hand.

Ana watched as John took in the information, she was slightly surprised when it didn't seem to phase him, but he had been in Heaven for years so she also understood why he wasn't freaking out. "John," she pulled his attention back to her, "do you have any idea why you were brought back?"

She watched as her grandfather tried hard to remember, the way his brow creased in the same why Dean's did when he was thinking hard, "I don't remember." he finally answered.

"Do you mind if I try something?" She moved her chair so she was sitting a little closer to him. Not waiting for his answer, she reached her hand out and touched the top of his. It didn't take long for the vision to start, but when it did she was looking at one of the most beautiful people she had ever seen.

" _John, there's someone here to see you." Mary told him as she walked into the living room. It was a room Ana recognized. They were in their house in Lawrence. It would make sense that their Heaven be the place they raised their family._

 _John stood up from the recliner and turned to see a young woman in a business suit. "Hello John, my name is Hannah." the brown haired woman gave him a soft smile, "I've come to ask for your help."_

 _While the woman spoke, Mary had walked to stand by her husband, "Hannah's an angel, dear." Mary explained, Hannah had given her a brief summary of why she was there when she had appeared in the kitchen Mary had been cooking in._

" _What can I do to help an angel?" He questioned, confused. John wasn't sure how long he had been in Heaven with his wife, but he understood that it had to have been at least a few years and in all of that time they had never been approached by an angel._

" _Your family is facing something extremely dangerous. They are going to need all of the help they can get. We would like to grant you a short stay back on Earth to help. What they are up against would not only be devastating to Earth but also the Heaven, we want it stopped quickly." Hannah told him._

 _John's chest tugged at the mention of his sons, "Of course. I'd do anything for my sons."_

 _Hannah smiled in a way that showed she knew something he didn't, "Your family will be glad to see you." she assured him._

As she pulled back to the real world, Ana smiled, Hannah had kept it to herself that Dean had a daughter. That was going to be fun to explain to the grandfather she had assumed she would never meet.

"What did you do?" John asked, after she had touched him her eyes had closed and it looked like she had been focusing on something.

"I had a vision. I now know why you are here." She answered, leaning back in her chair to study him.

There was a soft thud as bags dropped on to the floor, the group that had gone to the motel appearing seconds before the sound, "So it's really him?" Sam asked, his hopeful, puppy dog eyes focusing on his father.

"It's really him." Ana answered, a soft smile playing on her lips knowing how happy it would make her father and uncle.

Both men walked over to their father, Dean pulled him out of the chair and into a tight hug, "God, it's good to see you dad."

Dean slowly let him go and let Sam have a turn embracing their father, "It's good to see you boys too." John spoke as he hugged his youngest son.

As the two men separated a calm silence fell over the room as they took each other in, "Ana, you said you knew why he was here?" Castiel asked, walking over to the group.

"Hannah sent him to help. Apparently the ritual is far from over and Heaven knew we could use a little more help." She explained to him, slowly turning her attention to her family, "In my vision, she said that he would only be here for a short time. I'm assuming that when we've stopped the ritual from happening that he will be returning to Heaven to be with Mary."

"Some time is better than none." Charlie piped in with a soft smile, knowing that even if she had one hour with her mother it would be better than nothing.

John slowly turned his attention away from his boys, looking at the redhead that had spoken and then letting his eyes wander over everyone else in the room, "So you have an angel on the team, who is everyone else?" he asked.

"Oh!" Sam smiled, "Two angels, actually. Castiel," he gestured to the man in the trenchcoat, "is an angel as well. Then there's our friend Charlie. Connor is a new friend and…" he trailed off as he looked to Ana.

Dean cleared his throat as he pulled Ana toward their small family circle, "This is Ana, my daughter."

John's eyes went wide, "Your daughter?" he looked the girl over, noticing the resemblances she shared with his son, but he knew she was a bit too old to have been born after his death, if the way his sons had aged was anything to go off of.

"Hi." Ana said meekly. She had noticed that the time he spent in Heaven with his wife had made him a little softer than the man that had died to save Dean's life, but she also knew that John Winchester had quite the personality when he was mad.

For a moment John was at a loss for words, "When?" he questioned, not being able to get a full question out, the shock of the news still too fresh.

"I was eighteen." Dean answered, "I didn't want to bring her into this life, so I left." he gave Ana a soft smile, pulling her into a side hug.

"Then why is she here?" John's eyes were still focused on the girl.

"She started-" Dean was stopped before he could finish.

Ana patted her dad on the torso before pulling away from him, ready to answer John herself, "I started having visions of them. Not long after I found them a demon went after Dean in hopes of getting to me. We've kind of been stuck together." she explained, looking at Sam and Dean with a smile.

"You're psychic?" John's eyebrow raised at that. He should have figured it out when she had told him about the vision she had about him, but it just seemed to process.

"A witch actually." Dean answered, resting a hand on her shoulder.

John took a step back at the word, "A witch?"

Dean sighed, "Dad, she's not going to hurt you. She made you solid for Christ sake."

Connor had stood up from his chair and made his way over to the group, wanting to stick close to Ana incase John tried to hurt her. Though he had just processed that he had died not long before in effort to save her, it wouldn't stop him from continuing to do so.

"Witches sell their souls to demons for their power!" John yelled at his son.

Ana shook her head, "I'm a natural witch. I didn't make a deal with a demon."

John's head was spinning. Dean had fathered a child while he had been alive and his son never told him. His granddaughter was a natural witch, whatever that meant. The only witches he had ever heard of had given their souls to a demon for their magic. "Natural witch?"

"Dad, there are more than the witches that give up their souls." Sam said, moving closer to his father, "There are witches whose powers run through the family, they're born, not created. Normal people can learn some witchcraft too. Some spells can be done as long as you know how to do them."

Dean moved around Ana, making sure he was between her and John, "You've missed out on a lot. Just, trust us on this one, alright?"

"Two angels and a witch. You have started keeping weird company." John commented, clearly not happy with the news.

Connor cleared his throat, moving to Ana's side, "Two witches." he corrected, they might as well get everything out in the open now.

"What's your reason for keeping that one around?" John demanded from his sons, pointing at Connor.

" _That one_ ' is named Connor and he's here to teach me. He's a friend." Ana snapped, moving to stand between Sam and Dean, forcing John's attention on her.

Dean shot a look at his daughter, "Ana-" he warned.

"No, dad." She shook her head, no one was going to stop her from standing her ground, "John, you were brought back to help us. To protect your family. For this ritual to work I have to be kept alive, my blood is the key to the damn thing. So if you don't want to be surrounded by witches and angels or you don't think you can protect your own granddaughter because I'm a witch, then you can go back to Mary. I'm sure Cas or Gabe could send you back, but then you can have fun explaining to your wife that you couldn't help us because of one damn technicality."

John's eyes went wide as the small girl's voice grew stern, a tone in it that reminded him of himself. He didn't responded for a moment, "That attitude is all Mary." the thought made him smile softly, his wife always spoke her mind.

"Somebody has to keep this family in line." Ana said with a shrug, but she was happy that she had gained something from the grandmother she'd never meet.

"Alright, so we're good?" Dean asked, receiving a nod from his father, "Good, now you and I can have a chat." he tapped Ana on the shoulder, waiting as she turned to look at him, "What the hell was that, Ana?" he demanded, letting go of the anger he had been holding on to. "You agreed to do as I said and the first thing I ask you to do, you disobey."

Ana rolled her eyes, "There were too many demons for you to take down on your own. I knew I could help and I did a pretty good job of it."

Dean scoffed, "You almost died. Again! Then Connor died trying to save you!" he pointed to the young man, thankful that he had been there to look after his infuriating daughter.

"Don't you think I understand that?" She snapped back, "I watched it happen! I'm fully aware that what happened is on my shoulders and I am so thankful that Gabriel was able to bring him back, but you have to stop treating me like I'm completely useless!"

"Can you guys do this later?" Sam questioned, they had bigger things to deal with than their argument.

"No!" The two snapped at the same time, neither of them looking away from the staring contest they were locked in.

Dean's jaw clenched, "We had an agreement. No hunting and you were only allowed to come if you listened to every order."

"I'm not a freaking soldier! I wasn't raised to listen to everything I was told!" She argued, "I was allowed to make my own decisions, to learn from my mistakes."

"Mistakes on the job get people killed, Anastasia!" He snapped, voice being louder than it needed to be.

John stood back and watched the argument in silence until that point, they were going around in circles and it was giving him a headache. "Enough!" He demanded, "Dean, you were basically grown when you were her age. You'd been hunting for years and you weren't a witch! Things are obviously going to work differently with Ana."

"Thank you!" Ana cast a look at John before grinning at her father.

John scoffed, "I didn't say I was on your side, Ana. You got someone killed because you couldn't listen to what your father told you. What happens when you disobey next time and there's no angel around to bring back whoever you got killed? Sometimes being stubborn and doing whatever you want isn't the best course of action."

Ana's grin fell as Dean nodded in agreement with his father. Both he and Sam had been given the same lecture when they were younger and it probably kept them each alive on more than one occasion. "You won't be leaving the bunker for a while anyway, so you have time to think about if you're going to listen when you're allowed to help." He told her, ending the conversation by turning to look at Cas and Gabriel, "Any idea who that demon was?"

"We were discussing that during your little argument. We haven't seen him before." Gabriel answered.

Sam sighed, why couldn't anything be easy for them, "Can you go ask around?"

"And make sure we have the right demon this time?" Dean added, still riding on the anger from fighting with his daughter.

Cas frowned at Dean's words, "We had the right demon last time, we were just unaware that he was not the only one working to get to Ana."

Gabe stepped in before another argument could break out, "Cassie and I will go see what we can find out." he said and then disappeared, quickly followed by his little brother.

"It's pretty late, why don't we all get some rest? It will give them some time to find out what they can." Sam offered, noticing that everyone was looking as tired as he felt. When no one argued, he nodded, "Alright, Charlie, dad, let's find you guys each a room." he led them out of the room and toward the hallway.

Once they were gone, Dean turned to look at Ana, "You should go get some sleep."

"I'll head to my room soon. I want to talk with Connor first." She told him, pouting slightly as the words John had spoken to her replayed in her head.

Dean simply nodded and then left for his own bedroom, leaving the two to talk. When he was gone, Connor turned his attention to Ana, "What did you want to talk about?"

Ana slumped into the chair, after the countless times she had pointed out to Dean that she was an adult and she had been acting more like a child. "I've been selfish." she stated, looking up into his blue eyes.

"I'm not sure selfish is the right word." He commented sitting down, "You would do whatever you could for any of us, but you get these ideas and just assume they'll work out completely fine all the time."

She sighed, "So not selfish, just cocky."

Her wording made Connor chuckle softly, "Basically, but you're young and you've just recently been exposed to this world where a wrong move could mean death." he leaned forward and placed a comforting hand on her knee, "Don't tell him I said this, but it's probably best that you listen to what Dean is telling you. He's been hunting evil since he was old enough to fire a gun, he may know a thing or two that you don't."

Ana hung her head in shame, she'd acted without thinking and gotten Connor killed. He was right, she needed to listen to her father, at least while danger was eminent. "You're right."

"Wait," he gave her a wary look, "did we just agree on something? We may have just started the apocalypse."

"Second apocalypse, my dad and Sam already stopped one." She told him with a short laugh.

He rolled his eyes, "Of course they have." standing up, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet as well, "Come on, Red, it's been a long day."

"Red?" she raised an eyebrow, following him to the hallway.

"Yeah, Red, I think it fits. Red hair, temper, not afraid of the big bad wolf." He winked at her, walking toward her room.

Ana laughed, "If you say so." she wouldn't admit that the nickname gave her butterflies. When they stopped by her door, she paused, "Connor, I'm sorry."

He gave her a gentle smile, "Just don't make a habit of it, otherwise we'll have to keep Gabriel around all the time."

"My dad would just love that." She returned his smile as she opened her door, "Good night."

"Night, Red." Connor winked as he turned to go to his own room.


	18. Chapter 18

_A/N: Hey guys! So things are going to get kind of confusing with the timeline of the show, bits and pieces are even veering off into a little bit of AU but not to a giant extent. Honestly, I'm just rolling with what comes to mind. If you have any questions or comments about what's happening, just let me know. Also I want to apologize for how long this took to get up! I hate not posting every few days, but I was pretty sick for three days and did absolutely nothing. So without further ado, the next chapter!_

As morning grew later the day after the demon encounter and everyone began to wake up, moving around the bunker at their own pace, it quickly became noticed by the three that had spent so much time with her that Ana was sleeping in a lot later than she normally did. "Did Ana seem okay while you were talking last night?" Dean asked Connor when they were alone in the kitchen getting coffee.

The younger man nodded, brushing a hand through his black hair which was a wreck from a restless night's sleep, "Yeah, I mean, she was kind of upset with herself, but she seemed fine otherwise."

Dean nodded, taking a drink from his cup as he thought, he didn't want to wake her up if she was just overly tired, but part of him also worried something was wrong. His thoughts wandered back to the conversation they had the night she'd gotten drunk… _Depressed, disappointment, burden… Pills._ Panic filled him quickly at the words. Yesterday had been a rough day for everyone, but she had been the reason for Connor's death and he had basically shoved that fact in her face during their argument. Swearing he sat his coffee mug down on the counter and quickly left the kitchen, hurrying toward his daughter's bedroom.

"Dean?" Connor called after him, confused. With a shrug he took his coffee into the library, joining in on the conversation Sam, John, and Charlie were having about the attack the night before.

Long strides carried Dean passed the library and closer to Ana's door. How could he be so stupid? It didn't take long for him and Sam to realize that some things affected her deeper than others. Negative emotions seemed to pull her down quicker than anything. He only hoped that his fears were false as he reached her door, opening it without a knock he stopped, seeing her lying still in bed. "Ana?" Her name was a tentative question, part of him worried that she wouldn't respond.

There was a shuffle of sheets as she rolled over, "Dad?" she barely opened her eyes to look at him, noticing the panicked look on his face. "What is it? What's wrong?" she sat up, rubbing a hand over her eyes.

Letting out a sigh of relief, he shook his head, "Nothing's wrong. I just…" he paused, watching the moment of innocence in her as she began to fully wake up, the horrors of yesterday not having settled back in yet, "I was just worried, you never sleep past ten."

"It's past ten?" She reached a hand out for her phone and groaned when she read the time, it was almost eleven. "I didn't mean to sleep so late."

"How _did_ you sleep?" He questioned, walking further into the room and taking a seat at the foot of her bed.

Ana heaved a sigh full of so many emotions, "Not that great. It took me a while to finally relax and then after I actually fell asleep I had nightmares."

"Connor?" Dean asked, knowing full well that watching her friend die was the first human death she had seen outside of a vision.

Her red hair bounced as she nodded, "Yeah… I can't get the image of his broken neck out of my mind." she confided in her father, knowing that he had been through worse things.

The answer made him frown, moving so that he was sitting beside her, he pulled her into a hug. "He's okay now." Dean assured her. It was clear that she and Connor were becoming fast friends, which was something that made him happy, though he would never admit to it. Other than himself, Sam, and Heather, he knew that Ana didn't have many other people she was close with and if the other witch could be a friend for her, he wasn't going to stop it. He let her cling to him for a few minutes before she pulled away, her eyes brimmed with tears, "Why don't you get up? Come get some coffee and see Connor, it will make you feel better to see him completely fine. Trust me."

"That sounds like a good idea." She agreed with a small smile, watching as he stood up and moved toward the door. "Hey," she stopped him, causing him to turn and look at her, "how are things with John today?"

Dean shrugged, "Better than I thought. He's pretty focused on helping with this ritual. Sammy explained everything to him this morning, now all he can think about is keeping you away from demons and finding a way to make sure it can never happen."

She nodded, there wasn't much else to expect from John Winchester when it came to the supernatural, "How is he handling... _me_? I mean, he comes back from the grave to find he has a granddaughter who was born while he was still alive. That's a lot to take in."

"Honestly, I think he's still a little shocked, but he made a comment about not being able to wait to tell mom. So I guess he's okay with it." He answered with a smile.

With a nod Ana stood up and looked around her room, realizing that the majority of her clothes were in the suitcase she had left in her car. The car that they had been abandoned in the motel parking lot in Ohio, "Did Cas or Gabe happen to angel mojo our cars back with us?" she raised an eyebrow, there was no way that Dean would have left his baby.

"Uh, yeah, they're in the garage." He answered, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Okay good, because I packed all of my clothes and have nothing in here." She explained, following him out of her room and down the hall toward the garage.

It didn't take her long to get her things out of the car, to her room, and sorted through so she had clean clothes for the day. Feeling comfortable in black sweats and a white tee shirt she headed for the library, a pair of fuzzy socks in hand. "Hey, dad," Ana spoke as she walked into the room, "I think it's time to take the stitches out of my foot."

Dean looked up from the book he had been skimming through, everyone had been doing one thing or another to further the research on the ritual they were still trying to stop, "Come here and sit down." he told her, pushing his chair back from the table.

She walked toward where he sat and jumped up on to the table, scooting back and pulling her foot up for him to inspect. "It looks pretty closed up to me." she commented.

"Yeah, it looks a lot better " He looked at the wound carefully, it wasn't completely closed yet but it looked more like a shallow cut and less like the giant gash it had been. "This isn't going to feel good." he told her, "You don't have the booze in your system to numb it."

"And I don't plan on drinking for a very long time." Ana shook her head at the thought of that night, "I'm a big girl, not the first time I've had stitches removed." she assured him. Dean's brow scrunched for a moment before he stood up and went to get the first aid kit.

"How'd you get that?" John asked, walking over to stand next to her. When she'd come into the room everyone gave her a moment of their attention, but John had stayed focused on her. He had spent most of the night and morning processing the thought that he had a granddaughter and it was something that wasn't coming easy for him.

Ana studied John a moment before answering, "Uh… I got drunk, shattered the bottle of whiskey and stepped on a piece of glass." she explained, purposefully leaving out the part about being up on the table they were all currently working on and pulling out her best drunken dance moves.

John shook his head, "Is that how you got this?" he traced the freshly healed split in her forehead with his finger, it was going to leave a scar.

The touch caused her to jump slightly and she frowned because of it, "Yeah, hit my head pretty hard." she answered, "I think it's safe to say that I won't be drinking again any time soon."

"I remember those same words coming out of Dean's mouth when he was about your age." John commented, turning to see his son come back in the room with the first aid kit in hand, "That didn't last long though."

Dean scoffed, "I have done some stupid things while drunk, but even as a kid I never decided table dancing was a smart thing to do while completely wasted."

At the mention of table dancing the attention of everyone in the room turned to her, causing her to blush. "I missed the table dancing?" Connor sounded offended.

"Trust me, it wasn't my best show." Ana told him with a small smile, receiving a wink in return.

"God, that is enough from you two." Dean made a sound of disgust as she rifled through the kit to find what he needed.

Charlie snickered, "Are you really getting after your daughter for flirting? _Your daughter?"_ she raised an eyebrow at the man, "There should be some things in this world that don't surprise you, Dean, and that your daughter is probably as much of a flirt as you are is one of them."

"You know, she's got a point." Ana agreed, holding back a laugh as Dean scowled at both of the red headed women. She watched as he sat down and took her foot in one hand, scissors in the other began to clip at the stitches. "So, do we have any idea on who this new demon is?" she looked around at everyone, hoping that the talk would distract her once Dean started to actually pull the stitches out.

Sam sighed and shook his head, "With how little we have to go on we haven't been able to find much of anything. We have narrowed it down a little or we think we have."

"Narrowed it down to what?" She asked, wincing slightly at the strange sensation of the stitching thread being pulled through her skin.

"We're thinking he's a Knight of Hell." He answered, flipping back through the notes he'd jotted down.

Ana's eyebrows raised at that, "A Knight of Hell? That doesn't sound pleasant at all. What's made you narrow it down to that?"

"So Cas said that Barbas was pretty powerful, right? Almost Lilith powerful. With this new demon being more powerful than Barbas we were thinking that he had to be ranking even closer to Lilith's amount of power. Knights of Hell, as far as we can tell, are not only extremely powerful, but highly revered by most other demons." Sam explained. "The visions you had of us, did you ever see any of Abaddon?"

She scrunched up her nose and frowned at her father as he pulled out the last stitch, "Yeah, I caught quite a bit about that bitch."

Dean scoffed at her description, "Yeah, well, she was a Knight."

"Ah Hell." Ana groaned, Abaddon had been near impossible to take down and if they were up against another Knight of Hell, they had their work cut out for them. "So I'm guessing we haven't heard back from either of the angels?"

Sam shook his head, "No and we've pretty much hit a stand still with what little information we have. Now we get to play the waiting game."

-A-

The waiting game, as Sam had dubbed it, was taking far too long for Ana's liking. Everyone was growing impatient and no matter how much they prayed to either angel, neither were showing up. After eating lunch Connor had decided that they needed to spend some time on studying witchcraft, but they could only do so much of that before both witches had enough. When they were done Sam and Dean wanted to work on her hunters training, though Dean still wasn't happy about it. "I'm going to give you every advantage I can to protect yourself, there's too much going on right now that we don't know about." Her father explained as he and Sam led Ana and Charlie to the training room.

They paired off, Charlie started out with Dean, he and Sam wanted to make sure that she was able to take care of herself for when she was working alone. Ana and Sam had picked up where they left off with their last lesson, which was with offensive attacks. They had spent a lot of time on defensive moves last time, if she was in a fight and didn't have the upper hand knowing when to block and dodge was going to keep her alive, or Sam said. Now that they were reversed and Ana was the one attacking Sam, she began to realize that it was going to take her a lot more training before she was anywhere near as quick as the brothers.

Dean and Charlie had paused in their sparring to watch Ana go at Sam with a fake left and then full right swing, but he easily blocked the move and pushed her back. "You're thinking too much." Dean stated as he walked over to his brother and daughter. "Most of the things that are going to attack you are going to be faster and have ten times the experience that you do. You can't over think it or they'll see your next move coming a mile away." He tapped Sam on the shoulder, signaling the younger Winchester to stand aside. Squaring his stance, he pulled his arms up in front of his chest, "You ready?"

I sliver of fear went through her body. She had never sparred with Dean, but she knew he could be ruthless and she didn't think she was prepared for that. Bringing up her own arms, she gave him a stiff nod, it was going to hurt. The speed at which Dean extended his right arm was something she was at least a little prepared for, Ana was aware of how fast he could move when he needed to and he wasn't holding back that speed at all as he threw his first punch. Taking a step back to steady herself, Ana pulled her left arm up just quick enough to block his first hit, but his left hand quickly followed and caught her in the side. Thankfully he wasn't using his full strength otherwise she probably would have fallen to the floor and curled up in a ball, but the pain from his hit was bearable.

"There's always going to be another hit. Unless you know for a fact that whatever you're up against is dead, always be ready for another hit." Dean instructed, backing up from her a little, giving her a moment to regain focus. Once she had taken back a defensive stance he advanced again and they continued on.

-A-

After about a half an hour taking turns attacking and defending, Dean began to notice that Ana was slowing down. Honestly she had been doing a lot better than he thought she would. The girl didn't complain when she took a particularly hard hit, she was learning quick, and he was pleased with how well she was doing. "Alright, kid, I think that's enough for the day." he stated after he'd kicked her legs out from underneath her and pinning her to the ground. Standing up, he offered her his hand.

"Oh thank God!" Ana took his hand and stood up with a wince. "Don't get me wrong, I'm more than happy to learn, but damn, dad, take it easy on a girl."

Dean scoffed, "Next demon you come face to face with isn't going to take it easy on you."

"Like any demon I come across is going to fight fair." Ana pointed out, wiping a hand across her forehead to rid it of sweat.

"Not my point and you know it." He retorted, "There is a chance that you'll come across some sort of ugly at some point in time and whatever it is won't take it easy on you. Their goal will be to kill you and if you're not prepared that's exactly what will happen."

Ana reached for the water bottle that Sam and dropped off earlier, after it became clear that Dean and Ana weren't going to be stopping any time soon he and Charlie had left them to it, only stopping back in to bring them each a water. "I know." she took a drink of water, "You want me to be prepared for anything, I get that, but I'm not only going to have my body to defend myself. If I need to I will be able to use my magic."

Dean nodded, taking a drink of his own water, "I don't want you relying on that though. If something goes wrong and for some reason you can't do anything with your witchy powers I want to know you have a solid chance fighting it out with your hands."

"How'd she do?" John asked from the doorway, having walked up as Dean finished speaking.

"Seeing as how this is only her second lesson, she's doing pretty good." Dean answered, walking toward the door.

John mulled over the answer, "By the sounds of it she could make a pretty good hunter. Her aim alone is better than most of the men I ran into while I was hunting."

Dean scowled at his father, "She's not going to be a hunter." He looked to Ana, "We've already talked about it. This is just so she can protect herself in a situation where she has to."

"Which I am completely okay with." Ana chimed in, "I'm glad that I'm getting the training, but I honestly don't think I would do well being a full fledge hunter. Once this demon business is taken care of and I'm not on Hell's ten most wanted list I'd like to go back to an almost normal life. I was actually thinking of starting college next fall before all this crap started."

At the mention of school John raised an eyebrow at his oldest son, "You sure she's your kid and not Sam's?"

"Trust me, she's mine." Dean answered John, his eyes still focused on his daughter, a hint of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. He was glad that she wanted to do something other than hunt, maybe his dream of her having a normal life wasn't completely crushed. "Alright, let's get cleaned up and have some dinner."

The three generations of Winchester's walked down the hall together in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. John veered off into the room he had taken over last night, leaving Ana and Dean to head for their rooms, each wanting to wash up before they went to meet the rest of the group. As Ana grabbed clean clothes out of her bedroom, her thoughts drifted to the angels that they hadn't heard from in almost a full day. Worry had slowly began to sink in earlier that day, neither was answering the prayers sent to them and Cas wasn't picking up his phone. _What if something had gone wrong?_ The words had been through her head countless times since she'd woken up.

"Gabriel? Look, I know you can hear me and I know I've been bugging you a lot today, but I'm starting to worry. You go off looking for answers and the only answer we could come up with wasn't pretty… I just want to know you and Castiel are okay, alright?" She spoke into the silence of her room, "So at least have Cas give my dad a call or something. Please?"

When there was no response she sighed and gathered up the clean clothes she had picked out, making her way to her bathroom with a frown. Making sure she was thoroughly clean, Ana quickly got out of the shower, dried off, and hurried into her dark blue skinny jeans and button down white shirt. She was a firm believer that shoes were only necessary when going out in the cold and since she was stuck inside the bunker until the ritual was stopped once and for all, she was more than happy to walk around in just socks.

She ran her finger through her damp hair as she entered the library and stopped quickly as she almost ran into Connor, "Oh, hey, I was just going to come look for you." He said with a grin as he stood completely still, keeping their bodies extremely close together.

Ana looked up at him, "Find something new?" she asked, not moving either. They had talked about playing games, what better time to start than now.

"No, I just missed you." The grin growing a bit wider as he realized she wasn't going to back down either.

"Well," she drew the word out, her lips forming a sly smile, "I'm right here, what now?" she bit her bottom lip just the tiniest bit, watching with satisfaction as his eyes landed on her mouth.

"You two have it so bad!" Charlie told them, having paid attention to most of their interaction.

Connor's eyes flicked up from her mouth to her eyes before he looked over his shoulder at Charlie, "She has it worse."

"They have what so bad?" Sam asked, looking up from his laptop, having been so focused on it that he'd missed everything but Charlie's comment.

Charlie raised an eyebrow at Sam, "The hots for each other. It's so obvious!" she explained.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Ana told her, walking around Connor and into the room, "Mister southern drawl just thinks he can out play me at my own game."

"Oh, I know I can, sweetheart." Connor countered, turning and walking back toward the spot at the table that he had basically claimed as his own.

Ana scoffed as she took a seat, "I'm Dean Winchester's daughter, it's in my freaking DNA."

Sam watched the two bicker before exchanging a look with Charlie, "Dean's going to kill him." he told her softly as to not draw the younger two's attention.

"No," Charlie shook her head, "I don't think so. He secretly likes Connor, maybe not completely, but enough to trust him with the care of his one and only child."

"Wanna make a bet?" Sam offered.

"You two are not betting on us." Ana interrupted and laughed at their expressions, each confused as to how she had heard them while she was still talking to Connor, "You guys whisper like old women, which means you were talking at a level just below yelling." Connor and Ana both broke out into hysterical laughter at the looks they received from Sam and Charlie.

"What are you two girls laughing about?" Dean asked as he walked into the room, freshly showered.

Ana looked over her shoulder at him, "Just how much of an old woman your brother is."

Dean glanced back and forth between the two pairs sitting at opposite ends of the table, "I've been saying that for a while now." he commented with a shrug.

"I am not an old woman!" Sam argued, frowning at his older brother.

"No, you just whisper like one." Ana smiled, "We could hear you on the opposite end of the table."

Dean sat down in between the two bickering groups, raising an eyebrow at Sam and Charlie, "What were you two whispering about anyway?"

Charlie grinned, "We may be planning a little wager."

"You're not allowed to be on that!" Ana snapped, glaring at the older red head. "Plus, there won't be anything to bet on because the foundation that your bet depends on isn't going to happen."

"It's not?" Connor leaned closer to her, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, it's totally going to happen." Charlie nudged Sam, the pair sharing a knowing look.

Dean sighed, "What's not going to happen? I obviously missed something." he looked from side to side, shooting a glare at each group.

"Nothing." Ana told him, giving a threatening look across the table.

Charlie gave Ana a smirk before turning her attention back to Dean, "Ana and Connor are totally going to hook up!" the words ran together and were basically yelled.

"No we are not!" Ana shook her head.

Dean slowly turned his attention from Charlie and Sam to Connor, the glare he fixed on the younger man promising death, "If you even think about it…" he began to warn before he was being cut off by his daughter shoving back her chair and standing up quickly.

"This conversation is not happening." Ana stated and headed toward the kitchen.

"Hell yeah it is!" Dean snapped, "No way in Hell are you _hooking up_ with anyone, including Connor."

Ana spun on her heel, glaring at her father, "And what are you going to do to stop that?" she raised an eyebrow, "I'm old enough to decide who I will and won't _hook up_ with."

Dean stood up from his chair, "No you are not."

"You were probably screwing girls when you were younger than me and obviously you were by the time you were my age. I'm proof!" Ana argued.

"Obviously I wasn't old enough then because if I had been you wouldn't have happened!" He snapped. Ana's face fell, anger quickly turning to hurt at his words. The look on her face made him think about what he just said, "I didn't mean it like that."

Shaking her head, she fought back tears at the feeling that spread through her, "Sure you didn't." she muttered before turning around and leaving the room.

"Ana!" Dean moved toward the direction she went, but was pulled short by a familiar hand on his shoulder.

"Dean…" Sam kept him from chasing after the girl, "Just give her a minute."

Connor stood up, "I'll go check on her." he stated, giving Dean a disapproving glance before heading out of the room.

"She has to know that I didn't mean it like that." Dean grumbled, the ache of self hatred sinking in as he remembered his own words.

-A-

Connor had gone directly for Ana's bedroom, assuming that she had run off there. He took in a deep breath as he stood by the closed door and paused, he could hear her crying on the other side. "Ana?" he knocked softly.

"Go away, Connor." Her voice was clear enough that she had to be close to the door, probably sitting in front of it.

"If you don't let me in, I'll push the door and you aside." He warned, though his tone was still soft. The look on her face as she left the library had been pure pain and he didn't want to make her upset with him too.

There was the sound of movement through the door before she opened it just enough for him to see her face, "What?"

"Let me in." He coaxed, staring into her watery eyes which were already turning red. She slowly opened the door and let him in, closing it again quickly behind him. "You okay?" he asked and then winced at his own stupid question.

"Peachy." She responded sarcastically, wiping the sleeve of her shirt under her eyes.

Connor sighed, stepping closer to her and pulling her into a hug, "You know that Dean didn't mean it the way it sounded, right?" he held her tight as she cried against him, "He's just an idiot."

She smiled slightly and then shook her head, burying her face against his chest, "No, I don't know that. All I've done since we've met is caused problems for him and Sam. I wouldn't want me either."

"Hey," He tried to force her attention up at him, but when she didn't look he placed a finger underneath her chin and pulled it up so she had to look at him, "If anything Dean is happy that you're here. You may not be the easiest person to get along with, Red, but you're worth any problems that come along the way." he assured her, brushing his thumb across her cheek and wiping away a tear.

Ana leaned slightly into his touch, "You trying to sweet talk me?" her eyes focused on his blue ones.

"Is it working?" He asked with a soft smile.

"Maybe a little." She answered honestly as she wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and pulled him toward her.

Their lips caught in a tender kiss that Connor smiled into, "Maybe more than a little." he corrected her when they parted.

"I'll never admit it." She told him with a smile before he closed the distance between their lips again, his arms holding her body gently against his own and effectively dulling the pain that had moments before filled her.


	19. Chapter 19

_A/N: Hi there. As the story continues it seems to veer pretty far off the show plotline and at this point I have no idea how far it's going to go. As of right now this is oddly set season nine-ish (heavy on the ish), Kevin is dead, Ezekiel doesn't come into play at all here, Charlie obviously didn't go to Oz, Abaddon is still buried in pieces, and Castiel is in full on angel mode. Honestly, this is all a jumbled mess in my head and I'm trying to straighten it out, wish me luck. Any who… if you have any questions about any of this I will gladly answer them! Enough of this nonsense, here's the next chapter._

It had taken about an hour and a bunch of convincing from Connor before Ana left her room to go talk to Dean. What he had said had felt like a knife to her heart, though in truth they were words she had always assumed she would hear once she found her father. Being the only one among the friends she had back home who didn't know their dad was something that had always haunted her, even if she would never admit to it. Sighing, she turned into the library to see Sam, Charlie, and John in the middle of a hushed conversation, which stopped once Sam had spotted her and cleared his throat.

"Hey, where's my dad?" Ana asked, not even going to comment on whatever they didn't want her to know they were talking about.

"Pretty sure he headed to work on the Impala." John offered, giving her a tentative smile.

She muttered her thanks as she left the room and made her way toward the garage, slightly worried about the mood she would find her father in. If there was one thing she knew for certain it was that if there was nothing wrong with the Impala and Dean was working on it he was most likely dealing with some sort of problem. The car was his therapy and she knew that it had been in perfect condition in Ohio so there was no reason for something to be wrong with it.

Walking into the garage, she watched Dean tinker under the hood of his baby, grease covering his hands. "Dad?" she pulled his attention away from the engine as she stopped by the side of the front end.

Dean looked up, honestly surprised that she had come to him so soon, he had assumed that he would have to apologize more than once before she would look at him again. The look on her face as she turned away from him in the library had broken him, he never wanted to be the cause of that look again. "Ana, hey." he grabbed a dirty rag and wiped down his hands, "Look, I… I didn't mean it. I wouldn't change what happened, ever."

Tears formed in her eyes as she nodded, she wasn't ready for this, wasn't ready to talk to him about their argument or why it had hurt her so much, "I know."

With a deep sigh Dean pulled her into a hug, "I'm sorry."

She hugged him back tightly, it was the most physical contact they had since they met and though she hadn't realized it until then, that contact was something she desperately needed. "My biggest fear has always been that I'd find you one day and you wouldn't want me." she admitted to him with a sniffle.

"I may have not known it at the time, but I have always wanted you." He whispered, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

Ana snuggled in closer to his chest, finding comfort in his strength and the faint smell of grease, "I love you, dad."

Her words made Dean smile and he sent a silent thank you out to whatever force in the universe that had brought his daughter in to his life, "I love you too, kid."

With a smile, she lifted her head to look up into the green eyes that nearly matched her own, "Don't you just love sappy moments like this?" she teased, mood seeming to lighten a little.

"If you ever tell anyone about this, I will deny it until my dying day." He warned her, placing a hand on top of her head and ruffling her hair.

The two slowly separated and Ana wiped her hands across her cheeks, ridding her face of the evidence of her break down, "So, what are you working on?" she questioned, gesturing toward the Impala.

"Just tuning her up a bit, making sure everything is still in good shape." Dean moved back toward the nose of the car, looking under the hood at the engine, "She needs an oil change, but other than that everything is looking good." he checked a couple of things before looking up at her, "Want to help?"

Ana's eyes grew wide in surprise, "You're going to trust me to help with your car?"

He nodded with a small smile, "Not a lot can be done wrong on an oil change. You know anything about cars?"

"I can change a tire and jump start a battery, but that's about it." She answered, those were the two things that her aunt had been adamant about her learning to do, but other than that her car didn't require much maintenance and when things like an oil change needed to be done on it, they would just take it to a mechanic.

"Well that's a start," he grabbed a ratchet and held it out to her, "but now's the time for you to start learning more."

She took the tool out of his hand and looked at it, she had basic knowledge of most tools but she had the feeling that it was nothing compared to what Dean knew or what she would need to know if he was going to teach her about working on cars. "So, I assume I'm going to be using this for something?"

Dean nodded, "That," he pointed to the tool in her hand, "is a ratchet and you're going to be using it to take the bolt out of the oil pan so it can drain."

"Ratchet, bolt, oil pan… got it." she grabbed the small, open ended cylindrical piece that came off of the ratchet and twisted it, her mind pulling from TV shows and movies where she'd seen the tool being used, "And the oil pan would be… Where?" her eyes moved to the engine, having no idea what most of the stuff was.

"You're almost as bad as Sam was when I started teaching him." He muttered, shaking his head, "The oil pan is under the car, so we're going to have to jack her up so we can get underneath."

Ana nodded, "Makes sense. Let's get to work." she smiled at him. Learning about cars had never been a thing she was really interested in, but she knew that mechanics was something Dean loved and if it could bring them closer together she wouldn't mind learning.

After effectively draining the old oil, changing the oil filter, and adding the new oil, they were finally done. The whole process should have taken thirty minutes, or at least that's what Dean said, but with Ana doing most of the work and having no previous knowledge of the procedure, it took a little longer. Grabbing a stray rag, Ana began to wipe off the grease and oil that covered her hands, watching as her father double checked her work.

"Everything looks good." he told her as he began to lower the car back down to the ground.

"That was pretty easy." She commented, tossing the rag on the rolling tool chest they had near. Her hands were still dirty, but it didn't really bother her.

Dean smiled, "Yeah, that is one of the more easier things to do, but you gotta start somewhere. Why don't you close the hood and we'll head back inside?"

With a nod Ana removed the rod that held the hood up and closed it, "Are you worried that we haven't heard from Cas or Gabe yet?" the worry hadn't left her mind since it appeared and she assumed it wouldn't until they were contacted by the angels.

"Honestly? A little." He answered, shrugging his shoulders, "It's not like Cas hasn't gone off the grid before, but with what we're dealing with… I've considered that they've gotten themselves into some form of trouble."

"I've been thinking that too. I don't know how many times I've prayed to them and I've gotten nothing in response." She sighed, "Waiting around and not knowing what's going on sucks."

Her words drew a sad chuckle out of Dean, "No kidding." he draped an arm over her shoulders and led her back toward the rest of the bunker, "They'll make it back, somehow they always do." he assured her, hoping that he was right.

-A-

The rest of the day had gone smoothly. There was no more information on Knights of Hell in the bunker and neither Sam or Charlie could find anything on the internet about it, so they had all decided to take a break. Ana had offered to make everyone dinner, sending Dean and Charlie to the store to get what she needed for a proper meal. It was silently decided that Ana wouldn't be leaving the bunker and that if anyone else did that they had at least one other person with them, there was just too much that they didn't know for them to be out alone or for long periods of time.

The pair had returned from the store quickly, everything Ana needed to make chicken alfredo and a couple other odds and ends in the plastic sacks they carried in. She shooed them out of the kitchen when they had finished putting the stuff she didn't need for the meal away, "I work alone." she told them, directing them both back to the library where the rest of their little group was.

After setting the water to boil on the stove for the pasta, she grabbed her phone and plugged in her headphones, placing them in her ears before she sifted through the music in her library, settling on a playlist full of random songs. She bobbed her head to the beat of the song that began and grabbed one more pot and a pan, setting them both on the stove so she could begin the sauce and the chicken. The process of cooking the meal was something she was very familiar with. Ana had never been much of a chef, but there were a few dishes she could make extremely well and she had done so many times.

A couple of songs later and she had everything cooking on the stove, an accomplished smile playing on her lips as she watched it all slowly come together. She was preparing the bread to go into the oven when the song on her phone changed to her most recent favorite, Stitches by Shawn Mendes. Something about the guitar and the beat made her want to listen to it on repeat. As she placed the bread in the oven she began to hum with the song and then moved toward the refrigerator with a little jig in her step, gathering everything she'd need for a salad and placing them on the counter.

Ana continued her little dance as she closed the refrigerator door, turning around and letting out a small squeak as her eyes landed on Connor, who was leaning against the doorframe and watching her with a smile. "Could you be more creepy right now?" she asked with a frown as she pulled out her headphones.

"Could you be any cuter?" Connor countered as he crossed the room to stand near her, "I wasn't being a creep. I came to see if you wanted some help."

With a roll of her eyes she moved around him to grab a large bowl for the salad, "I'm almost done, but thank you."

"Well let me help you finish then. I'm a pretty good cook." He offered, walking over to the stove and stirring the noodles.

"Fine, but if you ruin my food, I'll hurt you." she began to cut up vegetables for the salad, glancing up at him for a minute, she sighed, "So about earlier…"

Connor glanced over his shoulder at her as he stirred the sauce, "What about earlier?"

She gave him a pointed look before turning her attention back to what she was doing, "The.. that.."

"The kiss?" He questioned, turning to look at her, eyebrow raised. There were a lot of ways the conversation could go from there and he was honestly curious as to what she had to say about it.

"Yes, that." Ana didn't look up from what her hands were doing, conversations like this were not her strong suit, "That was a one time thing, a moment of weakness."

Connor stifled a laugh, "Was it now?" he watched her a moment before turning his attention back to the food on the stove, it was clear that she wasn't going to make eye contact with him. "It sure didn't seem that way to me."

"Well it was, okay? It's not going to happen again." Her tone wavered and she mentally cursed herself, she had to be stern about it otherwise it would get out of control. "So don't go trying anything."

"Whatever you say, Ana." He muttered, focusing on the food with a slight frown.

They didn't talk again after that, each moving around the kitchen to finish the meal without saying a thing. Once everything was finished they began to carrying things toward the library, there wasn't enough room at the kitchen table for their entire group to eat so they had taken to eating in the larger room.

"That smells so good!" Dean was basically drooling at the mouth as they set the food on the table.

Ana laughed softly, "I'll go grab the plates." she offered, looking around Connor to Charlie, "Wanna come help grab drinks for everyone?"

Charlie gave her a questioning look before nodding slowly, "Sure?" she turned to follow Ana back to the kitchen. "What's up, Little Red?" she breached the question when they were safely away from everyone else.

"What's with the Little Red Riding Hood nicknames? Did a wolf eat my grandmother?" She grumbled as she pulled plates out of the cabinet.

"Well, no, but it's less of a Riding Hood reference and more of a fun name. I'm Big Red, your Little Red." Charlie explained as she pulled some beers and sodas out of the fridge, "They're like code names or trucker handles!"

Ana laughed softly at that, "Charlie, we are neither spies nor truckers."

The older woman just shrugged her shoulders with a goofy grin, "A girl can dream." she sighed happily, "But back to my previous question, what's up?"

"Nothing's up."

Charlie scoffed, "Right and Connor couldn't come help you with this like he did the rest of the stuff?"

"I just don't think he's very happy with me right now." Ana told her as she grabbed silverware.

"And he's not happy with you because…?" Charlie trailed of, the question implied.

Before Ana could answer there was a slightly familiar ruffling sound just across the room and both women quickly turned their attention to the two angels who had just appeared. The two angels who looked completely fine, one of which was wearing a ridiculous grin. "Where the hell have you two been?" Ana questioned, quickly moving across the room to stand in front of them.

"We've been looking for information on the demon that attacked you. You were aware of what our plans were." Castiel answered, tilting his head slightly to the side, giving her the confused 'puppy-dog' look.

She rolled her eyes, "Well yeah we knew what you were doing, but we didn't expect radio silence. I was worried about you guys, you could have freaking picked up your phone, Cas!"

"Actually, he couldn't." Gabriel spoke up, a mischievous glint in his eye, "I may have made it implode on itself."

Charlie shook her head, "Can we finish this in the library with everyone else? I'm hungry and I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of raised voices."

"Good idea." Ana agreed, moving back to where she left the plates and silverware then heading toward the library. "Look who decided to stop by for a visit." she announced to the room as she walked in followed by the two angels and Charlie.

"Bout freaking time!" Dean exclaimed, not sure if he was more excited about the plate to put his food on or that his friend had returned in one piece. "What'd you guys find out?" he asked, taking a plate from Ana and beginning to serve himself food.

Gabriel scoffed, "No, Dean, we're fine. The big, scary demon didn't try to roast us on a spit or anything. Thanks for the concern."

Ana made sure everyone had a plate before she turned her attention to the angels, "Seriously, what did you guys find out? There's a demon out for my blood and I would feel a lot better if we knew for sure what we're up against."

"Oh, we are fully aware of the situation, cupcake." Gabe gave her a concerned look before he sat down, "The demon who came after you… we didn't think it was possible." he looked over to Castiel for some help.

The younger angel took a moment before he spoke, seeming uncomfortable with what needed to be said, "The demon that is searching for you, Valac, is a brethren of Abaddon. He is a Knight of Hell."

"That's what we were afraid of." Ana winced at the news, sitting down in her chair, but not touching the food.

"I thought all of them were supposed to be dead, right?" Dean raised an eyebrow, "After the run in with Abaddon I'm pretty sure you told me that all others but her had been taken out. So, what, you missed two?"

Gabriel scowled at Dean, "It appears that way, but once I find that bastard I'm going to run him through." his attitude quickly shifting from the Trickster they were familiar with to an angel with a mission from God.

"Can we even kill a Knight?" Sam asked the question that was plaguing most of the group, "The best we could figure out with Abaddon was to cut her up and bury her parts separated. Is there a way to actually kill them?"

Castiel looked to his older brother, the younger angel having not been involved in the mass murder of the race of demons. Gabriel sighed, "When we eradicated them it took Heaven's deadliest fighters, Michael himself was in on that fight. With me being the only archangel left alive and free, I don't think it can be done."

"Freaking awesome." Ana grumbled, by the way it sounded this wasn't going to be over quickly and she would be stuck in the bunker for the unseeable future.

"We'll get this figured out, Ana." Dean said with the look that said there would be no arguing about it, that there was no other option.

She simply nodded in response, eyes avoiding contact with anyone. There had been many instances where the Winchesters ended up in a situation they didn't know how to get themselves out of and in the end they would always figure something out, even if it wasn't the best solution. They had some time to come up with a plan, Ana was safe as long as she stayed inside of the bunker, and as long as the rest of them stayed inside as well there wasn't a lot of room for things to get worse. "I need some time alone." She announced, standing up and leaving the room before anyone could argue.

Dean exchanged a look with his brother before he sighed, "We need to put an end to this once and for all."

"Can't you just do with this Valac what you did with Abaddon?" John spoke up for the first time since the angels returned, "If we can't kill him, we can just cut him up and bury the pieces away from one another."

"In theory." Dean nodded, looking over the both pensive angels, "You think that could work a second time?"

They both thought on it a moment, "I believe if we can surprise him, we may be able to trap him and do what needs to be done with little to no damage to ourselves."

"How do you suppose we surprise a Knight of Hell?" Connor questioned, his own thoughts had been filled with worries for Ana, but Castiel's words had brought his attention back to the conversation at hand.

"Me. As far as the majority of Hell knows, I'm dead." Gabriel stood up, plans circling through his mind as he tried to figure out the best possible way to attack Valac without losing any of their own in the process. The angel had never been one for clinging to things that could eventually hurt him, but it seemed since his grace spent so much time in Ana that he cared for her more than he'd admit and that meant that he also cared for those she considered family. Family like everyone in the room with him, the same people who would be going up against one of the most feared kind of demons there has ever been. "We find a way to lure him to a location of our choosing, place a couple of devil's traps in different locations. He'll be expecting one, but I can draw him toward the other and trap him there. From there it's easy, devil's trap bullet in his body and we can tear him apart."

There was a shared look around the room before they turned their attention back to Gabriel. "Woah, calm down there, Kujo." Dean had seen the angel in many moods, but bloodthirsty was one that he wasn't comfortable with.

"It is a sound plan." Castiel agreed, "We will have to take every precaution we can to ensure he doesn't get the upper hand. Knights of Hell are ruthless killers, once he has the chance, Valac could easily kill us all."

Charlie pushed her barely touched plate of food away and leaned back in her chair, "That's a happy thought."

"We should move fast on this." Connor commented, thinking about how tense Ana had been the past few days. It was understandable, her life was in a mass amount of danger, but he could see it slowly turn from worry for her life to her being tired of dealing with it. This was the second time in less than a month that a demon was after her.

Dean nodded, everyone was looking to him to move this plan forward. Ana was his daughter and therefore it made the most sense that he'd make the final decision on things. "We'll go over a couple of things tonight and then find a place to hold the showdown tomorrow."

"There's that old barn a few miles down the road." Sam offered, "I've never seen signs of people there and it looks pretty abandoned."

Dean stood up, grabbing his almost empty plate, "Good, we'll start there in the morning. For now let's get this all cleaned up and see what else we can figure out."

At his words everyone stood up and began to help clear the table, everyone except for John, who left the room to go track down his granddaughter. He first tried her bedroom, but when she wasn't there he made his way through the hallways, stopping in any room he thought she might be in. There was the sound of gunfire and he made his way toward it, knowing that it had to be her since everyone else was on the other side of the bunker. Slowly opening the door, he peaked in and waited for her to quit firing before stepping in all the way. "Ana?" he spoke to get her attention, not wanting to spook her while she had a loaded weapon in her hand.

The girl looked over her shoulder, "I don't want to talk right now, John." she told him before focusing her attention on loading the magazine for her pistol.

"I'm not really giving you a choice." He responded without pause, walking over to stand next to her, "If it all works out this should be over in a couple of days at the most, which means I don't have much time left here, and I don't want to waste that. God knows that I wasted enough of it while my boys were growing up."

She sighed at that, John had his rough times as a father. Alright, if she was being completely honest, a large handful of those times were rough, and part of her wanted to hate him for that. The compassionate part wouldn't let her judge him too harshly though. He had lost his wife, been made the sole provider and caretaker to his two sons, and basically been thrown into the world of the supernatural all in one night; that couldn't be an easy thing to process. "They grew up to be good men and they both know that you were doing the best you could."

"I could have done better and we all know it, but you're right. They grew up good even if it was with little help from me." John watched as she finished loading the magazine and then slid it back into the gun.

Placing the gun on the table she turned her attention to her grandfather, "You know that they love you, right? They may have never said it in so many words, neither did you, but they love you and when you died it about tore them apart."

John was silent for a moment, contemplating what Ana had just said, but that was something he couldn't talk about. The Winchester men were never very good at expressing their feelings. "So if this mess with Valac is over in a couple of days, what are you going to do then?"

She rolled her eyes, of course he would change the subject, "I'm not sure." she answered honestly, turning her back on the range and leaning against the counter that her gun was on, "I'm probably going to be hanging out here for a while. Connor and I still have a lot of work to do magic wise and I would like to spend more time with my dad and Sam." Ana shrugged, grabbing the boxes of ammo she had pulled out of the cabinet and moving to put them back, "At this point I think it's best not to plan. There's no telling what's going to happen next."

"What about school? You mentioned it earlier." He offered, watching as she cleaned up after herself.

"I still have about a year before I'd want to start, so I have time to figure things out." She answered, moving back over to where he stood to grab her gun, "Things don't always turn out like we plan, especially in this family, so as of right now I'm not getting my hopes up."

He smiled sadly at that, she had a point, even if it was a crappy one, "You know what Mary would tell you if she were here?" John looked into the eyes that almost mirrored his eldest son's, "She would say that it's just another reason to do what you want today. There wasn't one day that she took anything for granted, there was always the chance of something going wrong, even when she wasn't hunting anymore." he sighed, "Don't let this lifestyle take the happiness out of life, alright? I did that, the boys did that, I don't want that for you too."

Ana gave him a soft smile, "I'll do my best." she promised, turning to head toward the door, knowing John would follow. "Now, let's go figure out how to kill this bastard without one of us dying with him." she looked over her shoulder and gave him a grin as they walked out of the room. If there was one thing Ana was sure of, it was that in that moment she held the same determined protectiveness for her family that Mary had when she was alive. It wouldn't be long before word spread around the supernatural world that no one messed with Anastasia Winchester's family and got away with it.

 _A/N(2): So another chapter done, kind of a filler, but the 'showdown' with Valac is quick coming so there will be some action soon. Just curious, what does everyone think of John? I honestly believe that in a scenario like this that he would be changed a little, softened by spending so much time in Heaven with Mary. And what about Connor and Ana's maybe budding relationship? Do you like the prospect of a little romance or do you think it would be better if they didn't get together? I just love hearing what you have to say about this stuff!_

 _Thanks for reading :)_


	20. Chapter 20

_A/N: Well hello there! I honestly can't believe I'm twenty chapters into this craziness and that you guys are still sticking around. Thank you so much! Giant shout outs to the new favorites and follows!_

 _mercenary2.0: The showdown is going to blow your mind (hopefully). The last sentence of the last chapter seemed a bit cheesy to me, but I couldn't resist and I'm glad you liked it :)_

 _Emily: Please don't throw a bitch fit. I'm not promising anything, but just read this chapter and you'll know whether or not Gabriel dies._

 _DracoPotter80: I know this is a little late, but I had to do it! I'm sorry, but he wasn't dead for long and just to put your mind at ease there are no further plans for Connor dying. ;)_

 _Alright guys, that's it for this note, there will probably be an additional one at the end. Here's the next chapter, enjoy! :)_

By the afternoon of the next day, the group had a pretty decent plan for how the fight with Valac was going to go down. Both angels had made sure that they had covered all of their bases, the hunters had gone over the arsenal they deemed right for the attack, and Connor had made sure that he'd have anything he could use to help the group in his bag. Everyone was happy with the plan… everyone but Ana.

"How do you plan on getting Valac to the barn if you're not going to let me leave the bunker?" she demanded of her father as he placed a duffle full of weapons in the Impala.

"Connor and Gabriel think they can make it seem as if you're there, at least long enough to draw Valac there." Dean explained, "He's after _you,_ Ana, and I'm not going to give him the chance of getting his hands on you."

Ana's face was flush with anger, "And what are you going to do if someone gets hurt? Connor is going to be fighting right alongside the rest of you and who's to say that he won't be able to help when someone goes down?" she argued, "I've been working really hard on healing magic for this exact purpose. If for nothing else I need to be there because of that."

Dean looked into her eyes, jaw set, "You are not leaving this bunker and that's final."

"What if someone dies?! How do you think that would make me feel?" She yelled, it wasn't often that Ana raised her voice and this was the only time that she had since she had been with Dean. "If someone dies and I could have been there to stop it, you know I'm going to blame myself. Just like you and Sam will for not being able to save them."

"No one is going to die!" Dean yelled back, his voice booming in a way that Ana had only heard in her visions. He dropped his tone to just above a whisper before speaking again, "No one is going to die, there's a group of us against one demon-"

Ana scoffed, "One demon? Valac is a Knight of Hell, dad! I'm pretty sure you remember Abaddon, this isn't going to be a walk through the park!" she crossed her arms over her chest, "Something is going to go wrong, I can feel it!" Ever since she had talked with John the night before, the moment she exited the shooting range there had been a pit in her stomach and the closer the time grew to her family leaving, the bigger it got. There was no way Dean was going to let her go with, she knew that, but she also knew that she had to be able to help if they needed her.

"Ana-" Dean began, but she interrupted him again.

"What if I only come if you need me?" She questioned, a plan forming in her head. "I've read over so many spells in the past few days…." her voice trailed off as she tried to recall one specific one. "There's a spell that will let me mentally connect with one of you. I would be able to see through that person's eyes, we'd be able to talk to each other through our minds. If something went wrong, I would be able to see it and then do a spell to basically teleport me to where you're at." the words were just falling out of her mouth by that point, but it was the best chance they had at a compromise.

Dean's eyes when a little wide at that, "Vulcan mind meld?"

Ana rolled her eyes at him, "Is that what you're going to call everything concerning witchcraft?"

"No, but c'mon, sounds pretty Vulcan-mind-meld-y." He responded as he closed the trunk of the Impala, thinking about her plan. "You'll only come if someone's hurt and needs your help?" he questioned.

"Or if you guys are getting your asses handed to you." There was no way she was just going to sit back and watch them all get slowly taken out by a demon.

He considered the new addition to the plan and he didn't like it. With the kind of fight he knew they were walking into there was no doubt that they would take some hard hits, but he still wanted to keep Ana as far away from it all as possible. Even as he thought that, Dean knew that he wouldn't be able to keep her locked away every time danger struck, "Fine, but you stay here until either someone is hurt or until you're told to come. Got it?"

Ana nodded, it was going to be the only way she got him to agree to her being there, "Got it. Now I just need a willing participant."

"Well you can count me out. I love ya, kid, but I don't want anyone in my head, let alone my own daughter." Dean shook his head and shivered slightly at the thought. "I bet you could convince Connor to do it." he offered.

"I would _really_ prefer if I could get someone else to do it with me." She muttered as they walked back through the bunker. If they were going to act on Ana's new plan, they needed to start now to keep on schedule.

He looked down his shoulder at her as they walked, "What's up with you two? You've been all quiet around each other when I usually can't get either of you to shut up."

There was a pause before she answered, "Nothing's up, we're just focused on this demon thing." she shrugged.

"Sure you are." Dean didn't believe her, it was obvious that the two had a quick connection from the beginning. With the banter and flirting gone, he knew something had happened between the two kids. "He didn't… try anything.. right?"

The words made Ana stop dead in her tracks, "Wha- what? Are you asking if Connor made a move on me?" she raised an eyebrow at her father.

With a sigh, he stopped and turned to look at her, "That's not exactly what I meant… Did he…" he grumbled, this was part of parenting that he was never going to get down, "He didn't try to.. _force_ himself on you, did he?"

"What?!" She was honestly shocked that Dean thought Connor was the kind of monster that would do something like that, "No! God, no! Dad, really?" he couldn't possibly think that if something like that had happened that she wouldn't go to someone else immediately after beating the crap out of Connor for it. "He's not a scumbag."

Dean let out a slow, relieved sigh, "I don't know, I barely know the kid."

Ana brushed a hand through her hair, "You may barely know him, but I've been spending most of my time with him since he showed up and I've gotten to know him pretty well. He would beat the crap out of anyone who would touch another person like that."

"That's good to know." He muttered, "If it's nothing like that, then what's really going on? It's not the demon thing, so don't lie to me."

"We're not talking about this." she informed her father, stepping around him and walking down the hallway with long strides. Once she was in the library Ana was glad to see that everyone else was already there. "Hey! So who wants to let me be in their head?"

Everyone looked in her direction with confused expressions, "Want to run that by us again, Little Red?" Charlie questioned, not entirely sure that she wanted the full explanation.

Grinning, Ana walked over to sit amongst the group sitting at the table, "So it's been very clearly stated that I will not be joining in on the fight with Valac," she began to explain as Dean walked into the room, wearing a slightly pissed expression, "but I don't want to be here waiting, not having any idea what's going on. Also, I want to be easily notified if someone is injured and needs my assistance." Her eyes drifted everyone sitting around her, partially making sure they were all following, but also wanting to file away how they all looked in that moment in case anything were to happen to one of them, "There's a spell that will allow me to, basically, be inside someone's head. I'd be able to see whatever that person was seeing, be able to communicate with them."

"So you would essentially be there… without physically being there?" Sam asked, wanting to make sure he was understanding his niece correctly.

"That about sums it up." She replied with a nod, "If something goes wrong and I _need_ to help, it will be easy enough for me to do a quick teleportation spell and be there to do what I need to."

Connor had given her his entire focus, just like he did anytime she was speaking, sometimes how smart she was would take him by surprise. "You're looking for someone to volunteer?"

The young redhead slowly turned her attention to the witch, processing the first words he had spoken directly to her since their conversation in the kitchen, "Yes. It could be uncomfortable for whoever agrees to do this with me, maybe a little disorienting and I don't want to put more risk on one person unless they're fully prepared for it."

"There is the possibility of minor set backs with a ritual like that." Connor spoke from experience, "Sometimes pieces of it linger with the two people who were connected. In some cases they're just highly attuned to how the other is feeling, in others the ability to speak within each other's minds never really leaves."

Ana raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you saying that this isn't a good idea?" the question sprouting from pure curiosity. Connor was obviously more experienced with witchcraft than she was and if he didn't think it was a good idea, she would listen to him.

There was a brief pause before he shook his head, "No, I think it's a brilliant idea. Being able to easily contact you for any reason could be helpful, but I don't think that anyone else should do this ritual with you. I'll do it, I've done it before so I won't be taken by surprise with how it works, therefore it shouldn't hinder me during the fight."

"You… You want to do the ritual with me?" Ana was shocked to say the least. It did make more sense to perform it with someone who had done it before, but after the way he had been acting she didn't think he would offer to help. "What about the 'pieces of it that linger'? You're willing to risk being connected like that with me for however long it may take for it to wear off?"

"If it means you quickly getting to our location to save someone's life? Yes, I am." He answered, his blue eyes glued to her green ones.

Everyone eyed the witches a moment, watching their staring contest seem to linger before Gabriel cleared his throat, "It may even make our plan to lure Valac there a little easier. If she has a mental presence inside of your mind, Connor, it will be easier to fabricate a believable replica."

At Gabriel's words Ana's eyes shifted, "I'm sorry, a replica?"

The archangel nodded, "Damn straight, kiddo. Connor's going to work a little magic, I'll add some of my Trickster mojo and BAM! A completely fake, but believable rendition of the living Anastasia Winchester."

She nodded at that, her father had said that they had a plan to draw Valac to them and if they could make her appear to actually be there it would do the trick. "Alright, if we're going to do this, we should get started on the ritual so you can still leave when you planned." Ana offered, her focus on Connor as she stood.

"You two go do what you need to, we'll finish getting everything else ready." Dean instructed, waving his hand at the witches to shoo them out of the room. They had taken to using the training room for magic and he assumed that this time wouldn't be any different. Once the two were gone, he turned to look at Sam and Charlie, "You guys have any idea why they're being so weird?"

Sam merely shrugged, he had an idea, but no proof to it. "No idea." he stated as he stood up to finish going over what little written information they had on Knights of Hell.

Dean turned his attention to Charlie, hoping that his daughter may have confided in the only other woman in the bunker. His friend gave him a one shoulder shrug, "All I could get out of her was that for some reason he wasn't happy with her, but before I could dig any further Cas and Gabe showed up."

"They have a fight or something?" He questioned, sitting back in his chair.

"Like I said, I don't know. I guess you'll have to get one of them to tell you." She offered with a grin, "Good luck with that, by the way."

He grumbled, turning his attention to his father, "What did you two chat about last night?" he asked. When they had come back together from the shooting range neither mentioned their conversation, but it was clear that it hadn't been small talk.

John looked at his son, thinking about how thankful he was to get to see his eldest boy be a father, even if he was a little late on the pick up. "We talked about your mom." he offered, crossing his arms over his chest and looking toward the doorway that Ana had walked out of moments before, "Your girl reminds me a little of Mary."

Dean could barely suppress a grin at his father's observation, "Well, thank God for that."

-A-

The ritual Ana and Connor needed to perform was finished and after instructing her on how to essentially turn off and on the ability to see what he was seeing, they were all ready to go. They met everyone in the garage, the hunters were going to drive in the Impala while the angels flew themselves and Connor to the barn, he and Gabriel needed time to create Ana's double. Once they were standing among everyone, Ana took a turn looking at them all, there was no telling what was going to happen once Valac got to the barn and she was worried that one of them wouldn't be coming back.

As if reading her mind Sam gave her a warm smile and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders, "Everything's going to go fine, alright? Stop worrying."

She looked up at her uncle, "I know we haven't known each other very long, but you know me enough to know that I'm going to worry."

"Yeah, but you can't blame me for trying." He gave her a quick squeeze, seeing Dean walking their way, he let her go to give them some privacy.

Dean looked at her for a moment, hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket, "You're only allowed to leave here unless-"

"Someone is seriously hurt or you're in major need of assistance. I know, dad." Ana sighed, "Just… be careful, alright?"

He gave her a tight smile, "This will all be over before you know it."

"Dean, we need to get going." Sam called to his brother as he stood by the car, Charlie and John were already waiting inside.

With a nod, he turned on his heel and walked toward the car. No part of him was okay with leaving his daughter, there was always a possibility that he wouldn't come back, but he refused to say goodbye to her. He wouldn't leave her without both of her parents, not again.

Ana didn't move as she watched the Impala drive out of the garage, waiting until she couldn't see it anymore before she turned to look at the three men left with her. "I have the teleportation spell ready, if anything goes wrong and I'm needed, you let me know." she instructed Connor as she walked over to the small group.

Gabriel gave her a look as he considered his words carefully, "If you need to come help, I want you to throw everything you've got at that demon, you got it? You take care of whoever needs your help but then you come out swinging."

She knew the words were an order and any other time she would have given the angel hell for thinking that he could tell her what to do, but she only nodded. "You watch your back, alright?" she was worried about him being the one to lure Valac into the devil's trap.

The angel gave her his signature smirk, "I'm pulling all of the Trickster stops out on this one. It'll almost be as good as when I got the upper hand on Luci."

Slowly, Ana turned her attention to Connor, images of the last time they encountered Valac running through her head. Specially a complete replay of Connor's death. "You come back in one piece." she told him, her voice slightly shaking.

"I'll do my best." He stated, not seeming to care either way what happened.

With powerful strides she closed the space between them, grabbed onto his shirt, and pulled him down to her level. Closing her eyes, she planted her lips on his and kissed him almost desperately, smiling when he responded in turn. Pulling away enough to look into his eyes, she poked him in the chest with her index finger, "You come back to me, Connor Mohr, are we clear?"

He grinned down at her before giving her another quick kiss, "Crystal." he assured her before stepping back to join the angels.

"Be safe, all of you." Ana instructed one last time before Gabe and Cas flew the group away, leaving her alone in the bunker. She was frozen in shock for a moment, now that everyone was gone her true fear was settling in, but she quickly forced herself to shake it off. Turning, she quickly made her way back into the main part of the bunker and jogged down the hallway until she was in the library, where she had everything set up for the simple teleportation ritual that would take her directly to her family. Taking a seat in the chair in front of her set up, she leaned back and closed her eyes, speaking the short incantation to start up the visual part of her connection with Connor. Once the connection was in full effect she sucked in a quick, surprised breath.

The inside of the barn was bare, dying grass being the only thing covering the ground. She watched through Connor's eyes as Castiel used a spray can to draw a devil's trap in a rather obvious spot in the middle of the room. " _You with me, Ana?"_ She heard Connor's voice filter through her head.

" _Roger that, captain."_ She focused the thought and aimed it at him. The way the ritual worked was that unless otherwise intended, they would only be able to hear what they other wanted them to, which kept either from snooping through the other's mind.

"Alright, you ready to do this?" Gabriel asked Connor, they had to work simultaneously to create the replica of Ana.

She could feel Connor nod, " _That's weird."_ she commented in his head, causing him to smile slightly, which she could also feel.

" _The bond is probably a little stronger than most because of how powerful you are."_ he explained, before turning his attention back to the archangel standing in front of him. "Yeah, let's get this done."

As Connor and Gabriel went to work, they heard the sound of the Impala pulling up outside, followed by the sound of opening and closing car doors. They could hear the footfalls of the group coming in, but they didn't turn their attention away from their task at hand, each man focused deeply on the separate incantations they were reciting in hushed voices. As each slowly stopped speaking, between them a soft light began to glow and form into the shape of a person, as the light dimmed there was almost an exact replica of Ana standing there, though she didn't have the life in her that normal people did.

"Okay, the way this works is that no one can touch… _it._ " Gabriel began to explain, "It's very similar to one of my doubles though it's not as strong, but it should do the job."

Connor turned to see Dean set a duffel bag near one of the walls and then continued to make sure all of his weapons were in place, "Alright, let's get on with the next step, you can make it talk like her, right?" his eyes flicked between Connor and Gabriel.

"Actually, with the connection I have with Ana, she'll be able to talk through me. It'll be kind of like a ventriloquist with me being the puppet, my mouth moves, her voice comes out." Connor explained.

" _And why didn't you inform me about this?"_ a slight anger clear in the thought as she pushed it into his head.

" _One less thing for you to worry about, don't worry, it'll be easy. I'm going to help, all you have to do is talk."_ Connor turned his attention back to Dean, "We're ready whenever everyone else is."

Everyone seemed to double check their weapons at the same time. Castiel was assured that his angel blade was in it's proper place and therefore was free to focus on other things, which was when a thought occurred to him. "Connor," he brought the witch's attention to him, "I do believe that we discussed a cloaking spell of sorts?"

"Right!" Connor had almost forgotten about one of the most important parts of their plan. When Valac appeared they wanted to make is seem as if Gabriel and 'Ana' were the only people there, so he was essentially going to make them invisible along with making it nearly impossible for Valac to sense them. "If everyone but Gabriel would move with me near the wall, I need you to stay close for this to work." he explained as he walked toward where Dean had dropped his duffle bag.

The spell itself was easy, it required nothing in the form of ritualistic ingredients, but it was incredibly draining on the caster's energy. Once he was sure that everyone was close enough for it to work, he began to incantation. It was slightly longer than most he was used to working with, but it still didn't take very long and when he was finished he looked over to Gabriel, "So?" he questioned.

"It's good work, I can still see you, but I knew you were there. The magic is basically vibrating off of you, so I'm going to take that as a sign that it's working?" Gabriel offered.

Connor nodded, "Good." he turned his attention to Dean, "Are we ready for Ana to call on the demon?" With a nod from Dean, he began to pull on Ana's presence in his head until it was at the forefront, giving her control of his body for the most part. Looking around, she raised an eyebrow at Dean, "This is so weird." she muttered, "Really weird. Alright, what do you want me to say?"

"Just draw his attention, it shouldn't be hard with how long he's been trying to find you." Gabriel offered, watching as Castiel finished up the second devil's trap, using some old hay to cover it up slightly.

"I think I can do that." She closed her eyes.. his eyes, focusing all of her willpower on her voice being strong. "Alright, Valac! Here I am, come and get me you bastard!" Her voice rang through the silence of the barn.

There were minutes where nothing happened and everyone stood completely still, waiting for a sign that Ana had been heard and Valac had been drawn into their trap. The dead silence was shattered by the loud bang of the large barn doors being thrown open, Valac slowly waltzing through the doors with a smirk.

As the demon approached nearer to the first devil's trap, his blue eyes focused on Gabriel and 'Ana', "Gabriel, I had heard you were dead." he stated, stopping just before the trap without a glance down at it.

Ana slowly released her semi-possession of Connor's body so that he was in full control and she was sitting in the backseat again, watching through his eyes. They were focused on Valac, he looked exactly like he had the night he'd attached them on the rooftop. Same blue jeans and tight black shirt; the man the demon had possessed was probably in his thirties and must have been some sort of extreme athlete for how muscular he was.

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear, Val." Gabriel spoke with a smirk, gesturing to fake-Ana, "I do believe you've been looking for this."

The demon looked passed Gabriel at the girl, "I have been, though I can't imagine why you would be handing her over to me."

Gabriel shrugged, "Honestly? I'm just ready for this hole thing to be over. Bringing Heaven down and Hell up will quickly ruin the world. I've been around long enough for me to just not give a damn anymore." he glanced at fake-Ana, the mirage pulling off a pretty convincing scared expression. "Take her, finish your ritual, let chaos unfold."

Valac moved to take a step, but then paused, finally glancing down at the floor. "Trying to trap me, Gabriel?" he asked, mood swiftly changing from curiosity to rage. "That was not a wise move." he growled, quickly destroying the the trap with the toe of his shoe. Stepping through it, he raised a hand and pushed the angel toward the back wall of the barn. Once Gabriel was out of the way, he went to grab for fake-Ana and the double dissipated at his touch, which only fueled his rage. Spinning around, Valac's attention landed on the group that was supposed to be cloaked, "Insolent witch! Did you really think your tiny magic would hold up against mine?" he demanded, raising a hand and bringing each person to their knees with grunts of pain.

While Valac seemed distracted, Gabriel pulled himself up off of the ground, lowering his angel blade and made a run at the demon. Just as he was about to thrust it into the demon's back, Valac spun and knocked the blade out of the angel's hand, forcing it to fly in the direction of the group.

Ana watched as the blade flew past Connor and landed with a thud, followed by a painful grunt. " _Who did it hit? Connor! I need you to look, who got hit?!"_ Ana frantically asked, needing him to turn his head so she could see who had been struck by the blade and how bad they were injured.

Fighting back his own pain, Connor slowly turned his head until his eyes landed on the man merely feet away from him, the blade sticking out of his side. Sam's eyes were closed tightly, as if to avoid the pain of whatever magic Valac was working as well as the pain from the blade impaling him.

" _NO!"_ Ana's mind screamed into Connor's before her eyes flew open and she finished the transportation spell quickly, grabbing the bag she had set aside before it took place. Her entire family was in pain and Sam was most likely in danger of losing his life, if that didn't qualify as a reason for her to go to their aid then she would gladly argue with her father about it once the damn demon was dead and everyone was safe. She felt her surroundings change and when her eyes focused to the change in lighting, she stood facing Valac, who still held Gabriel back with a hand.

"There you are, little witch." The demon grinned, tossing the archangel aside as if he were a piece of trash. He began to raise his hand in her direction, but before he could a power seemed to grab hold of his body and he couldn't move.

Ana dropped her bag to the ground, not needing it to fight off the demon, her anger was fueling her power more than she had experienced since Gabriel's grace had left her body. A slow grin spread across her face, "I really hate to repeat myself, but I do believe I told you that you had no idea who you were messing with. Apparently you need a lesson." she raised her hand, much like the demon did to focus his power. Throwing Valac across the barn, he crashed against the wooden wall and fell to the ground with a thud. The distraction made his hold on her family fall and now that they were no longer being attacked internally, she could hear them moving to Sam's aid.

"You think you can beat me?" Valac snapped as he slowly stood, "You're just a child!"

Ana stalked toward him, no longer afraid, "You things never learn, do you?" she questioned, twisting her hand as she formed it into a fist, crushing the demon within the body, "I'm a Winchester and we always have one more card up our sleeve." Throwing her arm with a large amount of force, she threw him into the second devil's trap, releasing her hold on him once he was inside. A scary grin formed on her lips as she watched Valac realize he was trapped.

"Ana!" Dean called to her, they had been so focused on Sam until Castiel had healed him that he quickly spun to check on her once he knew his brother would live. He had caught the end of the fight and was glad to see that she had gotten the demon into the trap without seeming harmed at all.

Turning on her heel, Ana hurried over to her family, throwing her arms around Sam who had just been helped up. "I'm so glad you're okay." she told him with a grin before pulling away. She wanted to assure herself that Sam was indeed alright, but they still had the demon to deal with. Locking her eyes on her father's, her expression slowly turned grim again, "Finish him, dad."

Dean gave her a curt nod, pulling his pistol out and walking over to the where the demon was trapped. A single gunshot rang through the barn and then he returned to the group. "You don't need to see what's going to happen next, Ana. Why don't you and Charlie go back to the bunker? We'll meet you there when we're finished."

Charlie didn't say anything, but she was grateful that Dean wanted her to leave with Ana. Though she had already seen a lot of disturbing things on her solo hunts, she didn't think she was ready to watch someone be cut to pieces, demon or not. She walked over to the younger girl and wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders, "Come on, Little Red."

Ana nodded, feeling no reason at all to argue with her father. She did want Valac gone, but she didn't want to watch the process it was going to take. With a glance at Connor, she realized how weak he looked, the cloaking spell and then the torture the demon had put him through were clearly taking a toll on his body. "We're going to take Connor too." she stated, looking to Dean, "He doesn't look like he's going to be much help."

Dean looked at the witch and then nodded, "Good idea." he closed the short distance between himself and Connor, "You did good. Go back to the bunker and get some rest." he ordered, receiving no argument.

Ana gave Dean small smile as she led Charlie over to Connor, she grabbed his hand and made sure that Charlie still had her arm around her before she began to reverse the teleportation spell that had brought her there. There was barely a pause before it took effect and the three were standing in the bunker's library. "Why don't we get you to your room?" she looked up at Connor.

"Good idea." Connor muttered, he felt like crap and was pretty sure that the moment he laid down he would be fast asleep.

"Alright, you make sure he doesn't pass out on the way to his room, I'll go make us some hot chocolate." Charlie offered with a smile, turning toward the kitchen.

Not letting go of Connor's hand, she led him out of the library and down the hallway. "Thank you for helping with that."

Connor looked down at her as they walked, a small smile lighting up his face for just a minute before the exhaustion set back in. "You don't have to thank me. Oddly enough I've started to feel like part of the group. Plus, it is literally one of my responsibilities to watch out for you, so I would have even if I didn't want to."

She nodded, lost in her own thoughts for a moment. They stopped in front of his bedroom door, "Go get some rest."

He opened the door and took a step in before turning back to look at her, "Want to join me?" the offer was weak, but he couldn't resist.

"I'll take a rain check, I have a date with Charlie." She teased with a wink.

"I did what you asked, came back in one piece, doesn't that earn me a prize?" Connor walked into his room further, dropping his bag of spell supplies on the ground near the desk.

Nodding, Ana stepped into the room, "Your prize is sleeping." she stopped just in front of him with a smile, "Now get some rest, I'll see you in the morning."

Connor nodded, leaning down to give her a quick kiss, "Good night."

"Night." she responded, turning and leaving the room. It would be a while before the rest of the men returned and she was thankful that she hadn't come back to the bunker alone. As she walked back into the library Charlie was just sitting down at the table, a mug in her hands and one sitting across from her on the table. "How are you feeling?" she asked as she sat down. Worry had slowly filled her since her family had been internally attacked by Valac's powers.

Charlie thought on the question as she sipped at her hot chocolate, the pain had been so sudden and intense that she was sure she never wanted to face off against a demon again, but she also wouldn't let it stop her from hunting. "I'm okay. Just kind of seems like a bad dream, you know? One minute I was in extreme pain, the next I was fine."

Silence settled over the women as they sipped at their drinks, each lost in their own thoughts. Ana was replaying her face off with Valac in her head, there was a part of her that couldn't believe she had taken on the Knight of Hell with her magic and overpowered him. There was still a lot she didn't know about what kind of power she had control over.

They sat like that for a while before they decided to turn in for the night. There was no telling how long it would be until the rest of their group returned and there was no use in waiting up worrying when there was nothing they could do. Taking their dirty mugs into the kitchen, they left them in the sink and walked down the hall together toward their rooms. Ana's room was first, they muttered soft goodnights to each other as she opened her door and once it was closed behind her the young girl threw herself down on her bed. All of the worry she had been housing over Valac and her family going after him broke through to the surface, tears streaming down her face. With no need to keep it in any longer, she let all of it out. The assurance that they were now safe from that particular threat making it okay for her to let her guard fall. Tears escaped her eyes slowly and it wasn't long before the exhaustion of the day, paired with the relief from letting her emotions free, took hold and she fell into a deep sleep.

 _A/N: Boom! So that showdown wasn't as extreme as I originally thought it was going to be, don't hate me. Everyone is still alive and kicking, so Emily there is no need for a bitch fit! I would love to know what you guys are thinking after this chapter. At this point the story could go one of two ways. This could be a good place for it to wind down, a couple of more chapters pulling it to an end and then it being finished or it could just slow down for a little bit before it picks up again and I continue going for the foreseeable future. Let me know if you're ready for the close or if you want more! As always, thanks for reading guys! :)_


	21. Chapter 21

_A/N: Hello! Thank you to the new follows and favorites, always puts a smile on my face when I see a new one! So I got zero feedback on what you guys want to see done with the story, so for now I'm going to write the next couple of chapters and just see where it goes from there! Enjoy :)_

It had taken a lot longer than Dean or Sam had anticipated to dispose of Valac's body parts. With Abaddon they had placed her separate pieces relatively close to where they had pulled her apart, but they wanted to be more careful with this Knight of Hell, seeing as his mission was to take Ana's life. Gabriel and Castiel had each taken different body parts to different parts of the globe, the only thing they buried in a pasture outside of the barn was one of his legs.

"Well, that bastard's head is now nice and warm spending eternity in the pit of a volcano in Hawaii." Gabriel announced when he reappeared from taking the last piece away.

Dean nodded with a small smirk, if anything the archangel had style. "We're mostly cleaned up here. Thanks for the help guys."

Castiel looked over the scene. Thankfully no one owned the barn, there was still quite a bit of blood on the ground and it would probably be there for some time, "You are welcome. I have glad that this all worked out in our favor."

"Before we go assuming that Ana's in the clear, are we now sure that there's nothing out there after her blood?" Sam asked, directing the question at everyone. He really didn't want to get Ana's hopes up to have them ruined by a surprise demon attack again.

John sighed, "You know there's no way to be completely sure about that, Sam, but after taking out Valac I think we've sent a pretty good message that it's not going to be easy if some monster wants to get their hands on her."

"Johnny boy has a good point." Gabriel sighed, "I can go check around, see if there's any other talk of the ritual, but I doubt I'll find anything. All of Barbas' lackies went down with him and since Valac was Barbas' puppet master I don't see anyone else taking on the idea as well."

"Well, I'd rather know that we've finally put it to a stop to all of this rather than just assume we did." Dean commented as he packed up the last of his things in his duffle bag.

Castiel nodded, "I will assist Gabriel and we will get back to you once we know one way or the other."

The angels disappeared and the three Winchester men were left to clean up the last little bit of the mess they had created, which didn't take long. Once they had placed their things back in the trunk of the Impala, they piled in and headed back to the bunker. It was no surprise to any of them that it was silent when they arrived, the night had gotten pretty late before they had finished their work in the barn. After bidding each other good night, each man retreated into their separate rooms to deal with the morbid relief of the actions they took that night.

-A-

It had been a restless night for Ana and when she woke up for the fourth time that night, at just after five in the morning, and she decided to get up. What little sleep she had gotten had been filled with nightmares and she felt more tired than she had before she had gone to bed. After taking a long shower and dressing in a pair of sweats and a plain baggy tee shirt, she moved to the kitchen to make some coffee. It was no surprise to her that the main rooms of the bunker were empty, everyone was still asleep and she was thankful for that, having some time to think over things on her own, without being bothered was something she desperately needed. The nightmares she had been plagued with were something she had been expecting after seeing Sam with an angel blade sticking through him, though each nightmare showed a different person in her new family dying at the hands of Valac.

She sat on the table in the library, coffee mug between her hands as she reminded herself that the Knight had been taken care of and for the most part she was safe now. Things would be a little less stressful around the bunker, Charlie would probably be leaving soon and she knew that it wouldn't be long before John was sent back to Heaven since he was only there to help with that problem. The thought of having them both gone made her a little sad, but Charlie would only be a phone call away and John would be back with Mary, where he belonged.

Slowly her thoughts shifted from her family to herself, what she would do now that her life wasn't in imminent danger. She knew that a majority of her time would be spent learning more about witchcraft and some hunting stuff, but other than that she didn't know what else she would be doing. College was still something she wanted to try, but there was no telling what could happen before registration for next fall rolled around. There was no doubt in her mind that her dad and uncle would continue to hunt, but she didn't want to go with them, hunting had never been something she could see herself doing. Things were going to change and though she wasn't one to be put off by something like that, this time it didn't sit as easy with her.

"You're up early." A gruff voice interrupted the silence of the room, causing Ana to jump.

The girl looked up to see her grandfather enter the room, she shrugged slightly, "Couldn't sleep." she explained before finishing the rest of her coffee and setting the mug on the table next to her.

John nodded as he moved to sit down in a chair that was near her, "You make it a habit to sit on tables instead of chairs?"

Ana laughed softly, "Not normally, but something about sitting right here is comfortable and it helps me think."

"Been thinking about anything Earth shattering?" he questioned, making small talk was something he had never been really good at, but he wanted to get more time with her before he returned to Heaven, he wanted to be able to tell Mary about their granddaughter.

"No." she shook her head, eyebrows pulling together as she looked at him, "Just trying to figure out what to do with my time now that Valac is gone."

He seemed to think about that for a moment, "Well, you could always give your dad Hell. Both of those boys had their moments growing up, seems only fair that they get some of that in return."

Ana smiled at that, "Trust me, I have eighteen years worth of trouble to catch up on. Dad will have gray hair before I'm twenty."

They both laughed, but the happy sound was quickly stopped by the sound of fluttering wings. Looking to the side, Ana's face fell at the sight of the female angel standing before them, "Hello Hannah."

"Anastasia." She greeted before turning her attention to John, "You have done what we asked, now it's time to return."

Ana jumped off of the table quickly, "Can he say goodbye first?"

Hannah thought a moment, she wasn't one to go against orders, but a few moments couldn't hurt. "If it is done quickly." she answered.

"I'll go get dad and Sam." Ana told John before hurrying down the hall. She knew that the brothers wouldn't be happy if they didn't get to say goodbye to their father. Sam's room was first and she didn't bother knocking as she threw the door open, "Sam! Wake up!" she spoke loudly, grabbing a shoe off of the ground and tossing it at her uncle.

When the shoe hit him Sam shot up and looked at Ana, "What? What's wrong?" he rubbed a hand over his face.

"John's being summoned back to Heaven. If you want to say goodbye, you need to get up." She told him before turning to head to her father's room, leaving the door wide open to Sam's. Throwing Dean's door open in the same fashion she did with Sam's, she walked over to his bed and shook his shoulder, "Dad, you need to wake up." she told him before taking a quick step back, afraid that he might think he was being attacked and lash out with whatever weapon was under his pillow.

Dean's eyes flew open, landing on the clock nearby before they focused on his daughter, "You better have a damn good reason for waking me up so early, kid."

"Hannah's here to take John back to Heaven, you need to come say goodbye." She explained quickly, there was no telling how long the angel would give them for their goodbyes and she didn't want to waste a minute of it.

Dean's face settled into a frown, but he pushed back his blankets and stood up, "Lead the way." he grumbled, grabbing a nearby shirt and pulling it on over his naked torso as he followed his daughter out of his room. As they walked into the library Dean watched his father and brother embrace in a tight hug.

John pulled back from his youngest son to see Dean and Ana watching them. He walked over to Dean and gave him a warm smile, "It was good to see you, son."

"You too, dad." Dean responded, neither of them good with stuff like this and since they had very few moments like this when John was alive, he wasn't sure how to act.

Stepping forward John pulled Dean into a hug, "Your mother is going to be so proud of you." he told his son softly before letting him go, "I am." he added. All Dean could do was nod, he had no idea what to say to that and he sure as hell wasn't about to tear up at his father being taken from him a second time. John turned his attention to his granddaughter, "Are you gonna give this old man a hug?" he teased, remembering the first words she had said to him.

Ana's eyes began to tear up a little as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around John. She had only spent a few days with the man and though she was still on the fence about how she felt about the way he was when he was alive, she was going to miss him. "Thank you for coming to help." she told him as they embraced each other.

"Nothing comes before my family." He told her, holding her tight. "You take care of my boys, alright?"

She nodded and sniffled as she pulled away from him, "They're in good hands." she promised with a soft smile.

"John, it's time to go." Hannah said as she walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Tell mom we say hi." Sam told him with a sad smile, it wasn't as hard watching John leave this time, but it still wasn't easy.

John nodded, giving them each one last look with a smile, "Keep each other safe." he instructed them before Hannah took him away with her.

Ana sniffled again and wiped a hand underneath her eyes. It was weird to feel like she was losing John since he technically wasn't really back, he was still dead after all, but to her it felt like he was dying for the first time.

Dean stepped closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "He's okay, you know that, right? I have no doubt that he's been happier up in Heaven with our mom than he was the years he spent down here without her."

Ana nodded, "I never thought I'd meet any of my other family, it's always just been Heather and I, but then the three of us kind of found each other." She looked up at her dad, "I knew that you two were the only ones left in your side of the family so I just assumed I would never meet anyone else and then I get to meet John... just to have to watch him go again."

Sam walked over to the pair and wrapped an arm around her shoulders from the opposite side of his brother, the two effectively sandwiching her between them, "It sucks, but we're not the only family you have left. Family doesn't end in blood, Bobby told us that once, and we have made a strange family of our own. You're part of that now."

"Charlie, Jody, Cas, hell even Connor has wormed his way into the family." Dean didn't seem to know what to think about the newest addition to the family, but it was true. Connor had more than proven himself in the time he'd been there and it was peace of mind for Dean to know there was another person around to watch out for Ana.

"Don't let him hear you say that, he'll start to think you like him or something." She smiled as she glanced back and forth between her father and uncle, "You two gonna go back to bed?"

Sam shook his head, "I'd be getting up about now anyway. I _am_ going to get dressed though." he looked down at the old flannel pajama pants and faded, hole filled shirt he was wearing.

"Good idea." Dean agreed as he pulled his arm off of her shoulders and ruffled her hair, "We'll be back in a few minutes." he told her with a grin.

Ana watched as the brothers left the room and then turned back toward the table to grab her empty coffee cup. Just as she walked into the kitchen she caught sudden movement out of the corner of her eye and spun quickly to the side to see Castiel and Gabriel. "Hey, where have you two been?" She hadn't expected them to hang around all the time, having seen enough of Sam and Dean's lives to know that angels pretty much came and went as they pleased, but she had figured they would have at least come back after they were finished with Valac.

"Oh, you know, checking around to make sure that no other demons had the plan to sacrifice you in the name of chaos." Gabriel answered with a shrug.

Castiel's brow creased at his brother's words, "From what we can tell, those who even knew of the ritual's existence have been taken care of."

Turning toward the coffee pot, she let the new information sink in as she refilled her cup, "So other than the run of the mill monsters out there that could appear at any time, I'm pretty safe?" she clarified, glad that they had double checked.

Gabriel nodded, taking a seat at the table, "Seems like it, princess, but we'll keep an eye out for any strange demon movements just in case."

Ana turned around to give them a smile, "Thanks guys, for everything."

"You are welcome, Anastasia." Castiel stated simply.

"Hey, don't thank me," Gabe told her, "I just figured I owed you one since I planted my grace in you without warning. Don't come whining to me the next time you're in trouble."

She scoffed, "Right, I'm sure that's the whole reason for you helping out." Walking over toward the table, she sat across from him, "You can't lie to me, Gabe, I know that you secretly love us Winchesters."

"Of course he does!" Dean agreed with a grin as he walked into the room, "It's hard not to when we're so full of charm and good looks."

Gabe rolled his eyes, "Please, every Winchester I've met has been bull-headed and rude."

"Plus, we all know I got all of the real looks in the family." Ana pointed out as she watched her father pour himself some coffee.

Dean sat down his cup and scowled at her, "Take that back."

She laughed softly and shook her head, "It's not my fault that you're not aging gracefully."

"Oooo, you better watch out, Little Red, Dean is almost as vain about his looks as the actors in Hollywood." Charlie had appeared in the doorway just as Ana threw the insult at her father.

"I am a very good looking man!" Dean argued, turning his glare on to Charlie who was now laughing.

Sam and Connor stopped behind Charlie, each looking around the kitchen, "I think we missed something." Connor muttered to Sam.

"Oh, you did." Charlie moved into the kitchen so the men behind her could enter as well, "We were just discussing Dean's good looks."

"Actually, I was just so kindly pointing out that I must have gotten all of the good look genes from the Winchester line." Ana corrected.

Connor held back a laugh at the heated glare Dean was aiming in his daughter's direction, "I'm not even going to add myself to this conversation." he held his hands up, as if surrendering, and moved to grab a bottle of water out of the fridge.

"Are you saying we're ugly?" Sam questioned, raising an eyebrow at his niece.

Ana shook her head, "No, of course not, I'm just the better looking out of the three of us."

"I may be a little bias, but I've got to agree with her." Charlie spoke up, "I did call her jailbait for a reason." she explained.

Castiel watched everyone and shook his head, "This conversation has gotten completely out of hand."

"Where did all of this come from anyway?" Sam moved past his brother to get himself some coffee, he had seen a look in Ana's eyes that he understood as her clearly joking, but Dean apparently hadn't picked up on that sign quite yet.

"I was just telling Cas and Gabe thank you for helping out with the demon stuff and instead of accepting my gratitude, Gabriel had to be a smartass." Ana kicked at the angel's leg under the table, but he quickly moved his legs and she missed. "So I pointed out his secret love for our family and it kind of spun off in this direction from there."

Sam shook his head, "Of course it did, because logically Gabriel's hidden love for us is somehow connected to the fact that you're the most good looking and that Dean isn't aging as well as he thinks he is."

"Hey!" Dean smacked the back of his brother's head, "I am aging just fine!"

"I don't see any logic in your statement, Sam." Castiel spoke up, becoming confused.

Gabriel rolled his eyes as he stood up and walked over to stand next to Castiel. Gabe placed a hand on his shoulder, "We really need to work on your sarcasm, little brother."

Standing up from the table, Ana walked over to her father and smiled up at him, which made his frown deepen, "I was teasing, dad, calm down." she patted her hand against his cheek, "You're at least half as good looking as I am."

Dean narrowed his eyes at her, "You're lucky that you're my kid." he grumbled, pushing her hand away from his face and ruffling her hair with a grin before moving away quickly. "So, Charlie," he changed the subject as he stopped next to her, "You sticking around for a while?"

"No can do, Winchester. There are signs of a poltergeist in North Carolina so I'm going to head out there and check it out." She answered, glancing over at Sam, "I doubt that you two will be cooped up here much longer before you find something to hunt down too."

Both brothers looked to Ana who had moved back over to the table and was talking to Connor, "Obviously we're not quitting, but we may hold off for a bit." Sam offered.

"Yeah, there's still some stuff we need to figure out before we take on a hunt that's going to be too far from here." Dean added, his eyes focused on his daughter.

Charlie looked at the girl as well, "She's strong, Dean. If you leave on a hunt she's not going to fall apart."

Dean nodded, "You're right, but she's also been through alot in the short amount of time we've known each other and I don't want to just leave her hanging after having to fight off demons for weeks on end."

"It's not like you're leaving her alone." Charlie pointed out, "I highly doubt that Connor will be leaving her for a while. Witch stuff or no."

"Yeah, not sure how I feel about that." Dean muttered, watching as the two talked at the table, "You think I should be worried?" he asked Charlie, raising an eyebrow.

She looked up at him, confused, "How the hell am I supposed to know? I'm not a parent."

"No, but you're a girl and know more about this crap than I do." He pointed out, waving his hand at toward the table.

Sam laughed at his brother, "Maybe you should ask Ana if it's something you need to worry about?"

"Or I could just ignore the fact that there's even a possibility of anything going on with those two." Dean countered, which was something he wished he could do, but he also knew that he couldn't. If for nothing else to make sure the two witches didn't end up in a similar situation that he had with Ana's mom.

"Yeah, good luck with that one, Papa Bear." Charlie patted him on the shoulder, "Anywho, I'm going to go get packed." she walked through the kitchen and left quickly, passing the angels who stood in the corner quietly discussing something.

Dean's attention slowly turned to Gabe and Cas, "What are you two whispering about over there?"

"What? Us?" Gabriel raised an eyebrow and crossed the room to stand by Dean, "We were most definitely not discussing something we may or may not have seen transpire between the lovebirds over there."

Castiel had followed his brother and stood next to him as he spoke to Dean, "We witnessed Anastasia and Connor kissing." he answered, not understanding why Gabriel hadn't just said so in the first place.

"Why do you always have to ruin my fun?" Gabe asked, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting.

Dean's eyes darted over to the table after Cas had spoken, "We talking awkward peck or full blown make out?" he asked Gabriel.

Sam rolled his eyes, "I can't believe you're talking about this when they are literally just across the room."

"I really don't give a damn where they're at, I'm getting my information." Dean told his brother before turning his attention back to the angel at his side, "Gabe?"

Gabriel smirked at Sam then looked to the kids at the table, "I wouldn't say full blown make out, more of a desperate last minute declaration of feelings neither of them have owned up to yet."

Dean groaned, "Freaking great."

"It's not like this is her first relationship, plus she's a smart kid." Sam told his brother, "Do not make this out to be something bigger than it is."

"What are you four ladies gossiping about over there?" Ana asked, turning her attention from Connor over to the group of men standing across the room. She had been aware of the other conversations going on around them, but had been so focused on the conversation she had been holding with Connor to worry much about the others.

Sam gave his brother a look like clearly communicated the words 'I told you so', "I'm sure your dad would love to tell you what he and Gabriel have been discussing." he said with a smirk, throwing his brother and the angel under the bus.

She rolled her eyes, "If it was mostly you two I'm sure it was an enlightening conversation." sarcasm thick in her tone.

"That's the only kind of conversation I know how to have." Gabriel gave her a knowing look.

All attention turned to Gabriel, each person giving him their own look of disbelief. "Right." Ana deadpanned then quickly turned her attention to her dad, "So what were you actually talking about?"

Dean shook his head, "Nothing important." there was no way he was going to talk to her about this now, if he had it his way they wouldn't have to ever talk about it.

"I honestly don't understand why you won't just tell them that you were talking about them kissing." Castiel's eyes looked from Dean to Ana and back, "It's a normal human action."

"Of course you had to gossip about that." Ana glared at Gabriel before turning her attention to Dean, "Is this really something we need to discuss? I am old enough to make my own decisions on stuff like this."

"Yeah, whatever." Dean shook his head, "Just don't do anything stupid, alright? I _will_ kick both of your asses."

Connor sat silently but nodded at Dean's threat, his gaze flicking to Ana. Having a conversation about whatever their relationship was in front of her family was awkward to say the least and he honestly just wanted to leave the room.

Ana only rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever you say, dad." she stood up and carried her mug to the sink. "Can we refrain from talking about stuff like this as a family? I know you're new to this dad thing, but this is something we really don't need to talk about… ever."

"I know enough about being a dad that having your eighteen year old daughter her…" Dean's eyes landed on Connor before looking back to Ana, "whatever he his living in the same place is a pretty bad idea. Add that on top of the fact that you two will most likely be the only ones here at any given point in time and we're going to talk about this whenever I feel like it."

"Hey! Isn't it about time we start finishing my lesson on herbs?" Ana asked Connor, walking over to him, grabbing him by the arm and then pulling him out of the room with her. It didn't surprise her that Gabriel had spilled the beans on the kiss he and Castiel had witnessed, but for them to talk about it when she could have heard at any moment slightly baffled her.

Connor let her tug him through the bunker, "Should, we… uh… talk about that?"

"About my dad sticking his nose in places it doesn't belong?" She questioned, "I have a feeling I'm going to need to get used to that."

"No, not about your dad. About the kiss in the garage or the one in my bedroom?" He clarified for her.

She shook her head, "Later. Let's just focus on finishing up with herbs and then we can handle whatever is going on between us." Honestly she had no clue what to make of whatever relationship they were forming. She hadn't been in any kind of relationship since things had ended between her and Lucas and she wasn't sure if she was ready to start another one now that she was in a world where death was a possibility at any time.

They walked into the training room and closed the door behind them. Ana had been working on memorizing the uses for the herbs in his books and they were running a sort of test now, "Alright, uses for valerian root…" Connor instructed as they took their normal seats on the training mat and got comfortable, these lessons took a while.


	22. Chapter 22

_/N: Hello everyone! More favorites and follows, I love it and I love you guys! Seriously, the amount of readers I have has completely taken me by surprise and I just want to keep writing for you. This is a little bit of a filler chapter, something fun and light hearted to balance out all the drama from the previous chapters. Let me know what you guys think about it._

The bunker was quiet with just the three Winchesters and Connor being the only ones left there. Castiel and Gabriel had left not long after the witches had exited the kitchen and Charlie left shortly after lunch to start the drive to North Carolina, she had given her number to Ana and told her to call whenever she needed. Ana took the free time she now had to unpack her suitcase, organizing the few things she had brought with her around her room and separating the clean from the dirty laundry that needed to be washed.

Just as she was hanging up the last of her jeans in the small closet there was a knock at the door, "Come in." she called, moving toward the bed to grab her now empty suitcase and shoving it at the bottom of the closet.

"Hey, kid." Dean greeted as he entered her room, watching as she closed the closet door, "Getting all settled in?" the few books she had on the desk and the picture of her mother, that was now on her nightstand, being the only real changes to the room he could notice.

She nodded, "Yeah. It's still pretty bare, but I didn't want to bring a whole lot since I'm not sure how long I'm going to be staying here."

Pulling out her desk chair, he took a seat and watched as she sat down across from him on her bed, "You know you're welcome to stay here as long as you want. I know you plan on going to college at some point, but if you want to stay here until then... you can."

His words made her smile, she could pick up on the slight worry in his tone and could guess what it was from. "I'm not just going to up and disappear now that it's safer for me to leave the bunker, dad. I like it here with you and Sam, plus now that I'm not being hunted down we have more time to get to know each other better."

Dean returned her smile, "I'd like that." he agreed. They had been so focused on the demons that were after her for either of them to learn much about one another, other than the small things that they picked up, like how incredibly stubborn they both were or how cranky Ana got when she didn't get enough sleep.

"So what's the plan for you and Sam now?" She questioned, crossing her legs underneath herself, "I'm assuming that a hunt will come up sooner or later."

He nodded and relaxed back into the chair, "Yeah, probably, but we'll take a couple of days before we hit the road again. If we come across anything before then we'll send it to another hunter."

"You're not taking time off because you're afraid of leaving Connor and I here alone, are you?" Ana understood how important their job was, they helped save so many people, and she wouldn't let his worry about the relationship she had with Connor get in the way.

"Honestly?" He questioned, brushing a hand through his hair, "A little, but we could also use at least a day to wind down and regroup."

She sighed, "You really don't need to worry about this Connor thing, dad. Neither of us really knows where this is going and I'm not the kind of girl to jump a guy I'm not in a serious relationship with." The explanation made her wince internally, she really didn't want to have this conversation with her father, but if it would help put his worries to rest she would.

"I don't want you _jumping_ any guys." He pointed out. Realistically he understood there was nothing he could do about it, but he couldn't help but want to protect her from all and any trouble a man could cause her.

"Yeah, because that's going to happen." She shook her head at him, "I'm a human being, at some point in my life I am going to have sex again."

Dean stood up quickly at her words, knocking the chair over, " _Again?_ Alright, we're done with this conversation! Let's just leave it at the fact that while you're here, there will be no jumping of any man, deal?" the look on his face a mix between terror and disgust.

Holding back a laugh Ana nodded, "I think I can agree with that." she agreed, "Now that I've effectively scared you maybe we should go see what Sam and Connor are up to in the library." her hope was to distract him from bringing up the subject again. Pushing him toward the door, she got him headed down the hallway and followed close behind him. As they entered the library, she turned to see Sam at the table talking on his phone.

Taking a seat, Dean placed his head in his hands and tried with all of his willpower to push the information he had just learned about his daughter to the back of his head. He waited until Sam was off of the phone before he lifted his head to look at his brother, "What was that about?"

Sam gave his brother a questioning look before setting his phone down, "Uh… I caught news of some strange murders in Wisconsin, I let Garth know what was going on. He's going to take the case and let me know how it goes." He watched as Ana sat down a couple of chairs away from her father, "What's up with you?"

"You really don't want to know." Was all Dean said, but when he caught sight of Connor walking into the room Sam caught the frown that his brother sent the witch's way.

Ana shook her head at her father before looking to her uncle, "He, yet again, decided to bring up conversations he really doesn't want to have with me." she answered, watching as Connor walked her way with a book in his hands. "My next lesson?"

With a nod, Connor set the medium sized book on the table in front of her, "Yep. You did well enough memorizing the herbs that we can move on to mixing them together in spells and rituals."

"So this magic stuff is going alright now that you're not backpacking Gabriel's grace around?" Dean questioned, he hadn't noticed her having any problems, but now that they had time to discuss it he wanted to make sure.

She skimmed over the inside of the book, glancing up at her father for a moment, before looking back at the book's pages. "Other than feeling pretty weak after the fight with Valac, I haven't noticed any problems."

Connor walked around the table and sat down near Sam, "You did use a lot of your power without much training." he gave her a pointed look, "Unless in emergency, I think it's best that you refrain from using that much again. Until you have a better understanding of your power and more control over it, that is."

"So is this what you guys are going to be doing most of the time?" Sam looked back and forth between the witches, "Focusing on Ana learning everything she can about being a witch?"

Setting down the book, Ana looked up at her uncle, "I don't have any other plans until registration for next year's fall semester rolls around. I figure if I'm dedicating a part of each day to studying and practicing maybe it won't take as long as Connor originally thought. I'd really like to be able to focus on just school when it comes around."

Sam nodded, "Speaking of school, do you have any idea where you want to go?"

"Honestly? No, I have no idea." She answered, leaning back in her chair she thought a moment before speaking again, "My original plan was to stay close to Heather, but now I'm considering staying closer to here. Or maybe somewhere in between." she shrugged, "I still need to look around at what schools offer what programs and then there's the whole application process."

"What are you thinking of majoring in?" Sam leaned his arms on the table, he was excited that their recent encounters with the supernatural and the fact that she was a witch weren't seeming to stop her plan.

The question seemed to make Ana's eyes a little brighter, "I'm stuck between literature or going into some sort of medical program." she answered.

Dean watched the conversation unfold before him and he was happy that Sam was there to talk about this kind of stuff with her, since he had no idea what college was like. "Medical? You want to be a doctor?" he was slightly shocked that any child of his could have dreams that big.

"I've considered it." she answered, turning her attention to Dean, "For as long as I can remember all I've wanted to do is help people. Guess it's in my blood." The comment made Dean smile and out of the corner of his eye he could see that his younger brother was smiling as well.

"I have a feeling that even if you don't become a doctor, you'll still end up helping people." Connor spoke up, "Your quick understanding of healing magic makes me think you have a natural affinity for it."

Dean's smile only grew and he laughed softly, "That will probably come in handy for us." he gestured between Sam and himself, "Next time we get hurt you can magic us better."

"Oh, I already expected to be getting in a lot of practice on the two of you. One way or another you end up hurt, I've seen enough of your hunts to know that." Most of the visions she had of their hunts had been of the harder ones. A couple of simple salt and burns had come through, but mostly it had been things like dealing with hell hounds, vampires, or witches.

Connor looked across the table at her, "Speaking of your visions, have you had any recently?" he hadn't been around if she had and he was curious.

Ana shrugged and brushed a hand through her hair, "I've had some in my dreams, but they haven't been of anything dangerous. Just random peaks into the possible future." she explained.

"Well, that's good right?" Dean piped in, "If you were having visions of danger then we would be in more trouble."

"Yeah, I guess that's a good way to look at it." She nodded, contemplating his words, "Maybe we'll get a small break from the big bad before the world decides to screw us over again."

Sam frowned, "Don't get your hopes up, it always happens when you least expect it."

Dean nodded in agreement and a silence fell over the room as they each became lost in their thoughts. When a time came around where they weren't on a hunt and or on their way to one, Dean never really knew what to do with his time. Sure, he'd catch up on laundry and get some decent sleep in his own bed, but other than that he didn't do much. The more he thought about it the more he wanted to do something with his daughter and now that there was no immediate threat to her life, they could actually leave the bunker. "Let's go do something." he spoke up, his eyes holding Ana's for a moment before they flicked to Sam and Connor.

"Go do something?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow, normally his brother's idea of 'doing something' was drinking and he assumed that he didn't plan on taking his underage daughter to a bar.

"Yeah, let's get out of here for a while. We've been cooped up here for too long and now that it's finally safe to leave, we should take advantage of it." The older Winchester explained.

Ana grinned, the thought of getting out of the bunker and joining the real world incredibly appealing, "What would we do?" she questioned, from what she could tell there wasn't much to do in Lebanon.

"We could take a car trip to one of the bigger cities. Go bowling or something." Dean shrugged, "I don't know, I'm not used to family outings that don't involve firearms."

Everyone broke out in a soft laughter at that, the truth behind the words making it an odd joke, but they found it funny none the less. "Well you're in luck, Heather and I used to do stuff like this all the time." Ana told her dad with a smile, "Why don't we get ready to leave, pick a city, and on the way there I'll see what our options are?"

Dean nodded, "Sounds like a good plan. Say we meet back here when we're all ready to go?" he questioned, meeting everyone's eyes. With a collective nod, the four stood up and headed toward their bedrooms.

Ana had spent the whole day in her sweatpants and old tee shirt while everyone else was dressed normally. Knowing that it would take her longer to get ready than anyone else, she quickly changed into jeans and a nicer shirt before slipping on her boots. After making a quick stop in her bathroom to sort her hair into a high ponytail and put on a little makeup, she jogged down the hall to meet everyone in the library.

"Took you long enough." Dean teased with a smirk.

"Just for that, next time we're going anywhere I'll take my sweet time getting ready." She sassed back.

Sam shook his head, "Can we go now or are you two going to keep bickering?"

"Yeah!" Ana jumped, moving to stand behind Dean and pushing him toward the garage. "Let's go already!"

Connor laughed as he followed behind the family, "A little excited, Red?" he questioned, watching as she bounced on her toes as she continued to push Dean down the hall.

"I've been stuck inside this bunker almost the entire time I've been here!" She almost whined, "Of course I'm excited! I get to go on an adventure, that doesn't include demons or certain death, with three of my favorite people. It's going to be so much fun!"

"Aww, we're your favorite people?" Dean teased, laughing over his shoulder at his daughter, who still had her hands on his back and was forcing him down the hall.

Ana stuck her tongue out at him, "Shut up, dad. Of course you're _some_ of my favorite people. You all basically threw yourself into the line of fire for me, the least I can do is add you to my favorite list. And you know, I kind of love you guys, so… there's that too."

Dean shot his little brother a wide eyed look, "Did you hear that, Sammy? She said she loves us. I think I'm going to need a tissue."

Sam chuckled as he watched Ana give Dean a big shove, pushing him away from her. "Don't listen to him, Ana, he's been hit on the head one too many times and doesn't understand natural human emotion anymore." he teased, shooting his niece a wink.

"Now you're just being rude, Sammy." Dean grumbled as they entered the garage and everybody moved towards the Impala. Once they were each situated in their seats, he pulled the car out of the garage and headed out of town. "Alright, Ana, where am I headed?"

The girl already had her phone out and was looking around at a map of cities near them that were big enough to house things like bowling alleys, movie theaters, and anything that sounded fun. It had already been decided that they didn't want to go to the larger, more known cities just for the size of the population. "Looks like there's a city about an hour east with an arcade. Go karts, laser tag, and a miniature golf course. What do you think?" she asked from the backseat, looking to Connor and then around to the front to her dad and uncle.

Dean had a goofy grin on his face, "You had me a laser tag." He steered the car onto the highway and speed up.

"My first official Winchester road trip and we're going to an arcade." Ana joked, relaxing back in her seat and focusing on her family in the front seat. It honestly didn't feel like the first time she had been with them on a road trip, she had seen so many of them in her visions that seeing the inside of the Impala as it sped down the road was nothing new to her.

Sam and Dean exchanged a quick look then Dean looked at her via the rear view mirror, "It's not an official Winchester road trip just yet." he informed her before turning on the stereo and playing the cassette that was already in the player.

The moment the song began to play through the speakers, a sad smile spread across Ana's face. The last time she had watched anyone listen to it in the Impala was the day Sam had been thrown into the pit. Def Leppard had always been one of her favorite bands and the song itself was good, but the memory she carried of it made her heart hurt a little and she wondered how Dean could listen to it without focusing on that memory as well. "Hey, dad, turn it up." she told him, forcing her grin to be happier. She needed a new memory of the song and this was the perfect time to do so.

Dean shot her a grin, "That's my girl." and he turned the volume up, nodding his head with the beat of the music.

-A-

They went through a handful of the cassettes in the car before they reached their destination. After the first few songs Dean had turned down the volume and there had been some light conversation, mostly the father and daughter discussing the music that had been playing and Sam interjecting with some sarcastic comments about how they both needed better taste in music. In the end the trip had been nice and once they were parked outside of the large arcade, they all filed out of the car. "So, I don't know about you guys, but I'm thinking laser tag first." Ana offered.

"Oh, so you want to get your ass kicked first thing?" Connor asked, "Not to brag, but my laser tag game is pretty strong."

Sam laughed, "You realize what we do for work right?" he raised an eyebrow at the kid, "I can assure you that if anyone is going to win, it's going to be either me or Dean."

"Yeah, what he said." Dean scowled, "You may be pretty skilled with your magic, but put a gun in my hand, laser or otherwise, and I've got the upper hand."

Ana laughed, "You guys are in for a world of hurt. I'm a laser tag champion." she walked toward the doors to the arcade, not bothering to wait for the men, "Who's ready to get beat by a girl?!" the question was thrown over her shoulder as she opened the door and waited for them to follow.

"Oh, it's on." Dean shouted at his daughter as the three of them walked to catch up with her.

After purchasing the round of laser tag, the group was led into the first room of the dark coarse and began to grab their vests and guns as the younger boy who was working the coarse began to give them instructions. "So you get seven minutes and whoever has the most points at the end wins. The guns attached to your vests keep track of points and each vest has been programmed with your names, so when you're all finished the points will be on the scoreboard outside out the coarse." he explained as he went around and made sure each of them had their vests on right. "No rough housing." he added as he opened the door that led to the main room.

"Countdown will begin shortly. Players at ready." A automated female voice came over the speakers, stopping the loud techno music that had been playing for a moment. They hurried through the door and each made their way away from the others, hoping to get a safe distance before their lasers were powered up and the fight began. "Round begins in three...two...one." the female voice announced and the vests lit up while the guns made powering up noises.

-A-

"That was so cheating!" Connor accused the brothers as they exited back into the main part of the arcade.

Dean smirked, "No one ever said we couldn't team up." he pointed out, walking over toward the small flat screen on the wall to check their final scores.

"Honestly we're just used to it at this point. Even if we hadn't meant to, it would have happened." Sam added, following Dean toward the screen.

Ana shook her head at them, "I'm telling you, I still won. You two standing so close to each other most of the time made you _really_ easy targets." she joined the men standing at the screen and looked up to see her name at the top of the list, her score being at least ten over each of them. "Told ya." she grinned, meeting each of their eyes.

"Rematch." Dean demanded.

She shook her head, parts of her red hair sticking to the slight sweat on her forehead, "Sorry dad. You lost, but remember, it's just a game."

"Fine. Go karts. Let's see how you feel when I smoke you on the track." he grinned down at her, knowing that he had the upper hand with a steering wheel in his hands.

-A-

They had spent two hours at the arcade after their round of laser tag. Dean had indeed smoked everyone on the go kart track and surprisingly Connor won the game of minigolf they played, even though it was the first time he had even held a golf club. There were numerous rounds of skeeball, shooting games, and other arcade games as well. It had been a collective decision to leave the arcade in search for food and they settled for a pizza place a couple of blocks away.

Ana had excused herself from the table to take a phone call from Heather just after they had been seated, leaving the men to decided on what to order. Connor wasn't really paying attention to the menu that he held in front of his face, he was contemplating a thought he had been considering since they had set off on their impromptu trip. Finally deciding that he was going to go through with it, he set the menu down and looked at Dean, "Would it be possible for Ana and I to get some time to ourselves while we're here? I was thinking of taking her to get ice cream or something."

Dean lowered his menu slowly and gave the boy sitting across the table from him a long look, "You want to take her on a date?" he questioned.

"If she wants to, yes." Connor answered, refusing to crumble under the glare the older Winchester was now giving him.

"You should have seen this coming." Sam told his brother, not surprised at all by Connor's request.

His brother's comment only made Dean scowl further, "Fine. _If_ she says yes, you get one hour and then we're heading back to the bunker." he went to lift his menu up again, then lowered it quickly,pointing a finger at the kid across from him, "No funny business either, alright? My threat of unspeakable things still stands."

Connor merely nodded because Ana was coming back to the table, "Everything okay with your aunt?" he questioned as she sat down next to him.

"Yeah, she just wanted to check in. I've been terrible about keeping in touch." She informed the table as she picked up her menu, glancing over it. "So did you guys decide on anything?" steering the conversation in the direction of food, she was hungrier than she had been in days now that she wasn't stressed about Valac.

-A-

Dinner went by smoothly. Dean paid for the meal and as they were heading for the door Connor grabbed Ana's elbow and held her back from the rest of the group, "Hey, want to go get ice cream or something? Just the two of us?" he asked, hopeful that she would say yes. He really just wanted to get some time with her to talk about something other than witchcraft or demons and he hoped that they could figure out whatever was going on between them.

Her green eyes flickered to her father and uncle, who had already made it outside, and then back to Connor, "What about my dad and Sam?" Ana had a feeling that Dean wouldn't like the idea of them going off together.

Connor smiled down at her, "I talked to him about it while you were on the phone. He's given us an hour if you're okay with it. I saw a place just down the street, within walking distance."

"Uh, yeah, ice cream sounds good." She returned the smile and then moved to meet with the brothers standing outside by the Impala. Once they were standing in front of Dean and Sam, she smiled up at her dad, "So we'll see you in an hour?"

Dean frowned down at her and didn't seem like he was going to respond, so Sam stepped in, "Yeah, we'll pick you up then. If you need anything just give us a call."

Ana nodded and turned to walk away with Connor, but he was quickly forced to turn and look at Dean, who had a hand on his shoulder and a spark in his eyes, "Unspeakable things." he warned one last time before letting the kid go off with his daughter.

"We'll be fine, dad. Go have a drink with Sam and unwind." Ana gave him a sweet smile, "See you in an hour." with that she wrapped a hand around Connor's wrist and pulled him away from Dean before the man could threaten him more. They walked in silence until they were closer to the ice cream shop, "So… is this like a date or something?"

Connor smiled, glancing down at her hand which was still around his wrist, "I don't know, Red, do you want it to be a date?"

She shrugged, looking down at the ground, "It wouldn't be terrible, but you don't seem like the dating kind to me."

"And just what _kind_ do I seem to you?" He asked. In all honesty, Connor hadn't taken a girl on a real date in years. Working at the bar in Louisiana he'd had a couple of one night stands, but even those were few and far between. With most of his focus being on his work and his craft, he hadn't put much thought into women.

"The first time we met," Ana smiled at the memory, still not looking at him, but she had pulled her focus up and to the path in front of them, "I assumed you were kind of like my dad. You know, the 'I can get any woman I want, so I do' kind of mentality."

He nodded, understanding that he could put off the same cocky vibe that Dean could, which was probably one of the reasons they didn't meet eye-to-eye sometimes. "So that was your first impression, but what do you think now?" Something about the redheaded girl next to him made him want to know what she thought on everything.

She contemplated the question a minute, "I'm not entirely sure. Obviously you take what you do very seriously, I was basically a burden shoved on to you and you took it in stride, even helping further than any of us could have asked you to with the Valac thing."

"Not only is it my responsibility as a Mohr witch to your Good witch, but I like to think that we're friends. I wasn't going to sit back and do nothing while you were in danger, Ana." He explained, pulling her to a stop so that he could look down into her eyes. "And you are not a burden to anyone. I don't know if you've noticed, but everyone who was there that night to protect you cares about you. Even in the shortest amount of time you pull people to you."

"Must be my charming personality." She joked weakly, lost in the sincerity in his eyes.

Connor chuckled, "I'm betting that it has something to do with the Winchester in you. Somehow, even with his abrasive ways, Dean has the same affect on people."

"And has Sam had the same affect on you?" Ana continued to tease, grabbing onto his hand and pulling him along.

"Yes, but he's got that weird eye thing he does down." He stopped to open the door to the ice cream shop for her, "I'm almost positive that he could make that work on anyone."

Nodding in agreement she walked through the door and waited for him to follow before speaking, "I wouldn't be surprised. Dad refers to it as his 'puppy dog look' and I've seen it in action. I bet Sam could get Secret Service to give him national secrets if he tried hard enough."

They laughed together as they walked up to the counter to order their ice cream. When Ana tried to pay for her own Connor quickly placed money in the hand of the cashier, grinning down at her in triumph. Finding a free table near the window, they sat down as the conversation shifted from her family to how life was growing up with her aunt. Connor questioned her until he had basically gotten her whole life story, including the gory details of her hideous relationship with Luke. "I can't believe he cheated on you. First of all, you guys were in high school, who cheats in high school? Secondly, he's a complete idiot if he thought he could find anyone better than you."

His comment made Ana blush slightly, "You might want to watch all the compliments, I might get an ego." she teased, taking a bite of her sundae.

"I highly doubt that you could ever have an ego like your dad." He countered, "You're too level headed for that."

"It's true, but you never know, people change." She sat back in her chair, giving Connor a thoughtful look, "So, what about you? I know that your family life was rough, to say the least, but what about everything else? Were you born in Louisiana?"

Connor shook his head and the movement of his black hair caught Ana's attention before he began to explain to her his life. Carefully avoiding digging too deep into his family relationship, he told her about how he had been born in Boston, but had moved to Louisiana to get away from his family. That had been when he was fourteen and thankfully he had come across another, less powerful, natural witch who had taken him under her wing and helped him along until he was old enough to live on his own. He had finished high school and immediately started working in the bar that was owned by one of his coven members. "And that's all I did until Castiel came along, worked and practiced my craft."

Ana was quiet a moment, taking in all of the new information, "That sounds rough." she finally settled on, not knowing what else to say, though knowing that those words barely touched how it must have been for him.

"It was, but I'm thankful for it. Made me a more resilient person and now I'm teaching the most powerful witch to grace the Good line." Connor gave her a charming smile, "I'll consider that a win."

Before Ana could respond, a loud rumble came from the other side of the window and she didn't even have to look to know that it was the Impala. "I guess our hour is up. Are you ready to sit through another car ride with my family?"

Nodding, he stood up and offered her his hand, "I think I'll live through another round of the best of the eighties."

She took his hand and let him help her to her feet. Walking toward the door together, neither of them let go of the other and they were grinning as they reached the car, finally releasing hands to get into the back seat.

"Did you kids have a good time?" Sam asked with a grin and a mischievous look in his eye.

They both nodded, "Yeah, who knew bathroom sex in an ice cream shop could be so good?" Ana stated in a nonchalant voice.

An almost animalistic sound came out of Dean's throat before he opened his mouth to yell, "ANASTASIA MARIE!"


	23. Chapter 23

_A/N: So I have good news my readers! For a while I was considering ending the story fairly soon, the amount of traffic it's still getting makes me think that I shouldn't stop just yet. Giant thank you and hellos to recent favorites and follows. Reviews are always welcome and as always, I hope you enjoy my latest chapter :)_

The next few days went by pretty slowly. After dealing with a constant threat on Ana's life for weeks on end, the absence of one made for more time for things other than research. That is until Sam came across some newspaper articles in Michigan about people committing ridiculous crimes hours before going missing. Neither brother was entirely sure it was something that called for their help, but it was worth checking into.

Dean was still reluctant to leave Ana and Connor alone in the bunker, but he wasn't going to send Sam off to work a case alone and he knew that his reasoning wasn't good enough to stop hunting altogether. It would take a lot more than the budding relationship to cause the infamous Dean Winchester to quit working the family business. The four stood in the garage as Dean repeated himself for what seemed like the hundredth time, "You have our numbers, if anything comes up give us a call. We'll check in with you at least once a day, but if you don't hear from us get a hold of Cas or Gabe. Be careful any time you leave the bunker and keep everything PG." he added the last part with a glance to Connor, "Got it?"

"Yes, dad, geez. Most of the time you're gone I'm probably going to spend learning about magic anyway. Just be careful and look out for each other, alright? We'll be perfectly fine here." Ana assured her father and uncle, who looked a little less worried to leave the two alone than his brother did.

"Alright, we'll call you when we get there. Don't have too much fun with your witch stuff." He teased with a smile, knowing that he was only drawing out their departure.

Ana returned the smile and moved to hug her father, "Everything is going to be fine. Go kill some monsters and I'll see you soon."

He hugged her back quickly before releasing her and walking to the car, quickly sliding into the driver's seat. Once he and Sam were situated, he started the engine and drove out of the garage with one last look in the rear view mirror at the daughter he was so worried about leaving behind. "She's going to be fine, Dean." Sam's voice broke through his worry as they headed down the road.

"We literally just saved her from the second demon who wanted to use her as a sacrifice, forgive me if I'm a little worried about leaving her so soon." Dean grumbled, pressing his foot down a little harder on the accelerator.

Sam nodded, "You're right, but Cas and Gabe both seem positive that there's nothing else after her. Plus, she held her own against Valac, if something does go wrong she'll be able to defend herself until one of the angels comes to help her."

Dean didn't respond, he had faith in his best friend to keep an extra eye on his daughter when he was busy and it hadn't gone completely missed by him how protective Gabriel seemed to be of Ana as well. He was almost completely positive that she would be fine while he was gone, but even that didn't stop his worry.

-A-

"So you guys are thinking it's a shifter?" Ana asked Dean on the other end of the phone. It had been late when the brothers had checked into a motel room the night before and they had only called long enough to inform her that they had made it safely. Dean had recapped their meetings with the local police and said that the security cameras had caught the telltale eyes flare of a shifter.

"Yeah, most of the crimes are theft. Stolen cars, bank robberies, that sort of thing. Whoever is doing it probably shifts long enough to cover their identity and kills their victim whenever their finished." Sam explained their theory, they had Dean's cell on speaker mode between the two of them as they headed back to their motel room. "We're hoping that there's a pattern with either the sights of the crimes or the homes of the victims to give us a general radius to work with."

Dean grunted in agreement, "Depending on how long it takes us to find this shifter, we may be here a while. How are things going at the bunker?"

Ana sighed, she had been thankful for the distraction of the phone call since she had spent most of the day reading the thick book Connor had given her days before. "It's been pretty quiet. I've been doing a lot of reading and Connor has been teaching me a few simple spells. This place is really big without you two here."

"We'll be back and annoying you before you know it." Sam commented with a smile, it was weird for him to not be with his niece after how close they had gotten in such a short amount of time.

"I have no doubt about that." She laughed, "Well I'll let you guys get back to it. Keep me updated and be safe."

They said a quick goodbye before Sam ended the call and set his brother's phone on the seat between them, "See, I told you that she would be fine."

Dean nodded, "Yeah, I know, alright? You can't really blame me for being worried though." He knew that logically every parent worried about their children and since it hadn't been long since they had met, paired with the threat on her life and the fact that she was staying with a guy that was six years older than her… Dean knew he had at least a little bit of right to worry about his daughter while he was away on the hunt.

-A-

Connor walked from the kitchen to the library with two plates in his hands, catching the tail end of Ana's phone conversation, "Dinner is served m'lady." he joked as he set the plate, holding a sandwich and some cut up melon, down in front of her. They had pretty much spent every meal together since they had met and it didn't take him long to notice her crazy obsession with almost every fruit.

"I'm sure you just slaved over this." she teased, popping a piece of melon in her mouth and letting out a slight moan. "I'll give you one thing, you sure do know how to pick a good cantaloupe."

Connor laughed, "I've always had a way with melons." the joke being too good not to share with her, even though he knew she would give him hell for it.

The girl choked on the fruit and after clearing it from her throat, she shook her head at the man sitting next to her, "You had to do that while I had food in my mouth?" she glared at him.

"So, was that Sam and Dean?" he asked as he pointed at her phone, using the question to change the subject.

Ana nodded, "Sounds like they're after a shifter. Dad said it could take a while before they're back so we may be here a while longer by ourselves." she explained, picking up her sandwich and taking a bite.

"Good. We haven't caused nearly enough havoc while they've been gone." He smirked at her before taking a bite of his sandwich. With the brothers only being gone for close to a full day, the two witches had spent their time focused on Ana's studies. In the spare time they'd had, the two had gone shopping to stock the kitchen and had watched a little pointless TV on Ana's laptop.

"Because that's exactly what I want to do." Her tone was dripping with heavy sarcasm. The time they had spent together had been a little dull, but Ana was glad for it. After dealing with so much demon drama in such a short amount of time it was nice to have a break. "We could do something fun though. I'm honestly getting a little tired of being in here all of the time."

Connor nodded, he was becoming restless as well, "We could always throw a giant party. Invite random people off of the street and just let them go wild in here." he joked, not only would Dean kill him if something like that happened in the bunker, but he also had no real urge to do so. There wasn't a time he could think of since he left his family where he had spent so much time with the same few people and he was really enjoying his time with all of the Winchesters, Ana especially.

"Oh! I've got a better idea!" Ana spoke excitedly, "We could just go outside and start kicking the crap outta each other. They would have the same outcome!" she joked back, shooting him a proud grin.

"Dean has been threatening to do unspeakable things to me for a while and I'm going to assume I really don't want to find out what he means by that." He agreed, "But we _should_ go out and have some fun." The male witch thought for a moment, slowly eating his sandwich as he thought of possibilities. "How would you feel about doing a quick traveling spell and spending some time in Louisiana tonight? I've been meaning to go back for a little bit and now that you're safe, I'd say this is the perfect time."

"New Orleans?" Ana questioned, eyes lighting up. During one of their many talks Connor had explained that though he had initially moved to one of the much smaller cities while he was younger, the moment he was old enough to live on his own he had moved to the city.

He nodded, "Of course. You can meet Diane and the rest of the coven, I can show you around, it'll be a good time." If he was being completely truthful with himself the main reason for the trip was to introduced her to Diane, the witch that had found him after he had run from his family and had helped him follow the right path. He owed everything to the woman who was basically a mother to him and he wanted nothing more than to show Ana off to her.

The instant he mentioned his coven, she grew nervous, "Are you sure? I mean, I would love to meet them… but I'm still pretty new to this and there's no telling how my magic is going to react around more than one witch."

"Trust me, you'll be fine. I trust these witches with my life and I wouldn't bring you around them unless I knew it was safe." He explained, having already thought about it quite a bit.

She seemed to think on his words for a minute, "Alright, I'm in, but I'm going to change before we leave. No way in hell am I going to meet a coven of witches looking like this." gesturing to her sweats and bleach stained tee shirt as she stood up.

Connor couldn't help but to smile at her, the clothes were clearly old and well loved, and her hair was in a sloppy bun atop her head. "You just look a little homeless." he teased, standing to clear their plates off of the table.

"I make homeless look good." The comment was snapped back as she turned to head toward her bedroom, wanting to get ready so they could leave soon.

"That you do." He muttered to himself as he entered the kitchen. When the mess from their dinner was cleaned up Connor began to prepare the spell that would take them to his apartment in New Orleans. Before he had come to teach Ana it had been a while since he had to use a spell to teleport, but because she was still learning he wanted to make sure she understood the spell well before she tried to control her teleportation powers. The Mohr and Good lines were known for birthing some of the most powerful natural witches the world has seen. As far as records showed Connor was proving to be the most powerful in his line and he knew that once Ana was in full control of her powers that she would surpass her ancestors with ease. None the less he knew that it would be better to make sure she had an understanding of the simple stuff before even considering teaching her to teleport.

By the time she had changed into jeans and a nice green sweater, Connor had all of the ingredients for the spell on the table in the library. "I'm not going to be too warm in this, am I?" she asked, tugging at the sleeves of her sweater, "I'm so used to the cold autumns in Montana that I completely forgot the weather will be different down there."

Connor shrugged, "It won't be too cold, but it will probably get a bit chilly. You should be fine in that, plus, the color suits you." he answered, waving her over toward the table, "I've got everything you need here for the spell, get to work."

"I've only ever done this once and you helped me put most of that together, now you want me to do it on my own?" Ana questioned with a raised eyebrow, not wanting to think about what would happen to them if she did something wrong.

"You can do it, we've gone over it enough that you shouldn't have any problems. Give yourself a little credit and try the spell."

There was a moment's hesitation on her face before she took a deep breath and walked over to the table, taking in the ingredients he had laid across the table. Without thinking about it too hard, Ana began to put things into the brass bowl that Connor had set on the table. Thankfully the spell called for an herb mixture, nothing creepy like blood or bones needed to be used, and the incantation was on the shorter side. Unlike teleportation spells that other witches used, this one pulled on the residing ability to teleport and enhanced it without actually using the skill itself. As Ana finished placing the last herbs in the bowl, she began to recite the incantation, pulling on the power inside of her to set the contents of the bowl aflame. Seconds after the incantation was finished they were no longer standing in the bunker, but in the middle of the living room in a nice apartment. "I did it." she spoke, a little surprised.

Connor turned and smiled at her, "I knew you could. Welcome to my apartment." he added the last part as he gestured to the room around him.

"So, I've been wondering something." Ana said as she turned in a small circle to take in the room. "We have no idea how long you're going to need to stick around to teach me everything, are you going to keep this place the whole time?"

"That's one of the reasons I needed to come back. I'm going to grab the rest of my things and let the landlord know that I'm moving out. It came furnished so the only things here are the rest of my clothes, my trunk full of magic supplies, and the collection of books in my room." He explained, "But we'll deal with this all after we're done. Let's go outside." Connor grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the door, excited to see her reaction to the city he had grown to love.

Ana giggled slightly as she let him lead her out the door, down the stairs that took up the center of the small building and out onto the street. The sun had already set and the streets were lit up in a mixture of artificial and moon light. "Where are we going?" she asked as they walked down the street.

"To the best place in New Orleans. They say that all of the crazies herd to the French Quarter when the sun goes down, but in reality it's just a few supernatural creatures. Most of the time it's just one or two other than the witches in my coven, every so often we come across more, but it's rare." Connor led her across the street when there was a break in traffic. "But there's enough witches where I'm taking you that if there are a couple of shifters or vampires, you still won't be in any danger."

She glanced at him, "Maybe it would have been nice to know that before we left the bunker?" Not that she was technically afraid of whatever could be in the same city she was, but she was still dealing with the nightmares from her face off with both Barbas and Valac. Getting attacked by some run of the mill creature would probably only add on to that.

As he thought about it he realized that she had a point, but then a separate thought struck him, "Honestly, there's no telling what you could come across when you're out of the bunker. You could be in class with monsters when you start college, there could be a shifter or werewolf in your dorm building. Half of the people in any city you're in at any given point could be possessed by demons…" he trailed, realizing that he was rambling, "My point is that you need to be prepared for anything and since you're learning both how to be a hunter and a witch, I'm pretty sure we'll cover every base there is to cover."

They walked in silence for a while as Ana thought over what he had just said and he had an incredibly valid point. Just as they reached the Quarter, she stepped in front of him, cutting off his stride, "You're right and I don't know why I haven't thought about that before. I guess now that I know that it's all real, it's a lot scarier to think about."

"You didn't grow up in this like most natural witches do and I understand why you may be scared by it, but Ana, you threw a Knight of Hell around a room like he was a freaking toy. If you're ever in danger before you feel you've been trained enough, you just have to focus on your magic and let it lead you." Connor explained, giving her hand a comforting squeeze. "Now, come on, we're almost at Diane's shop."

While Connor led her the rest of the way to the small magic shop that Diane owned, Ana took in the beauty of the buildings that lined the streets of the Quarter. Though she knew nothing about architecture, buildings had always been a thing that she admired, and the older they were, the better. Something about the graceful aging of the buildings lining the street made her feel at peace or maybe it was the fact that she was finally letting go of the stress from the past few weeks.

"Here we are." Connor's words pulled her out of her thoughts and directed her attention toward the door that was in front of them. There was no sign stating a business name and if you looked through the windows the only things you could see were book shelves. He caught Ana looking at it in confusion as he pulled her toward the door, "Diane didn't want to lure in tourists, but those in the witch community know where it's at." he explained, opening the door for her.

Ana nodded as she passed through the doorway, her attention quickly falling on the simple yet elegant room. The book shelves that you could see through the window were almost as tall as the ceiling and almost as wide as some of the ones that were in the bunker. The shelves only took up a row, leaving a wide stretch of the room separated into different sections. From where she stood just inside the door it looked like there was an entire display case devoted to stones of different shapes and colors, there were herbs hanging from a wide patch of wall, taking up the entire space from the ceiling to the floor. As she took a couple more steps inside she could see that around the corner there was a display of candles on shelves which stood next to a separate display of what looked like ceremonial objects; daggers, chalices, altar cloths, and bowls of different sizes. The smell in the large room was lovely, mostly sandalwood by what she could tell, but there was also hints of things Ana didn't recognize. It was calming and energizing all at the same time, it just felt like pure magic and Ana wanted nothing more than to stay there forever.

The shop itself had belonged to a different witch in their coven before Diane took over with some of Connor's help. The two of them had lived outside of the city for some time and it wasn't long after Connor moved that Diane followed. They easily fell in with the coven that was in place out of the shop and after the leader decided to leave, he had handed over ownership of his shop and coven to Diane. "The energy in here is amazing, isn't it?" Connor asked, moving behind Ana and placing a hand at the base of her spine. The look of wonder and comfort in her eyes making it clear that she could feel it just as much as she could.

"We do aim to please." A warm, alto voice came from the back of the room. There was a doorway covered by a long, silver cloth just in the corner of the very back wall and it was pushed aside to reveal the owner of the soothing voice. The woman smiled warmly at the young couple as she crossed the room, "Connor! How I've missed you." she greeted him warmly, moving to wrap him in a hug the moment she was close enough.

Ana took the moment of their embrace to take in the woman, who must have been Diane, and though she looked to be in her fifties there was an aura surrounding her that made Ana think she was much older. Diane stood just short of Connor's height, making her at least half a foot taller than Ana. Her silver hair fell from her head in a straight sheet to the mid of her back, the color making her skin tone seem a bit darker than it actually was. The older woman wore a long sleeved teal colored blouse, a floor length black shirt, and she didn't seem to be wearing any shoes, which made Ana smile.

"I missed you too." Connor assured her, embracing his mentor for a long moment before releasing his hold and turning Diane toward Ana. "Diane Richardson, meet Anastasia Winchester." he introduced the two with a happy smile, "Ana, this is Diane."

Diane beamed at the girl standing in front of her, "Oh, Ana, dear! It's such a pleasure to meet you." the older woman extended her hand.

Ana smiled a little shyly, "It's very nice to meet you as well." she placed her hand in the gentle grasp of the elder witch and was shocked when the woman didn't move to shake it, but moved it so that her hand was pressed between both of Diane's.

"I must be honest, I was a little weary when Connor explained that he had been summoned by an angel, but when he told me that there was a descendant of Sarah Good in need of his help… Well, I couldn't have been more thrilled!" Diane explained, the warm, welcoming expression never leaving her face. Keeping her hold on Ana's hand, Diane turned the young girl and wrapped tucked Ana's arm through her own so that she could lead the girl toward the large gathering room that was just through the curtain she had come through. "It does seem that you've helped him as much as he's been helping you, I can already tell you have made more headway keeping him in line than I ever could."

Connor scoffed as he followed behind them, knowing very well that he was being picked on, "I was never much trouble for you, Diane."

"Don't you believe that for one minute." Diane told Ana in a low tone, causing the girl to laugh softly.

Ana glanced over her shoulder at Connor before looking back to Diane, "If you want to thank someone for keeping him in line, you can thank my father."

The expression on Diane's face seemed to falter for a moment, letting through a hint of worry, "Ah, yes, the infamous Dean Winchester. How is he handling the fact that his only daughter is a which?" she asked tentatively. It was no secret the distaste that Dean held for witches and Diane hoped that he wasn't having a hard time with the fact that Ana was something he would normally hunt down.

"Diane…" Connor warned, knowing that she was only worried, but he still felt like it was a personal question.

Surprisingly Ana didn't feel offended in the least by how forward Diane was being, "Taking into account how many times both my dad and uncle have had to deal with a borrower, they've both handled it really well. I think the fact that we all had to deal with my transition together makes it a little easier. The biggest problem Dean has had with the whole thing is how much time I have to spend with Connor."

The girl's comment made Diane laugh, "Well, I can understand where Dean is coming from. Connor is pure trouble." she teased, shooting the boy a smile as she released Ana's arm just as they reached the curtain. "Xavier, Danika, William, and Gregory are already here." the comment was made to Connor and then Diane's brown eyes were focused back on Ana, "Are you ready to meet the rest of our coven?" she asked the young girl.

Ana only nodded in response, feeling her nervousness getting the best of her and as she watched Diane pull the curtain back so they could enter, she felt Connor's hand wrapped around her own in a comforting gesture. As the group of three entered the room, the attention of all four of its occupants turned to them. "Connor!" A booming voice filled the room as the burliest of the men moved toward them, "It's great to see you." sticking his arm out as if to shake hands.

"William, it's been a while. You returned shortly after I left, didn't you?" Connor asked, as he clasped his free hand around the man's forearm, William copying the hold and they gave their arms a quick shake before releasing their grasp.

The tall, blond man nodded, "About a day or so. It's been really different with you gone, glad that you've come by. And this must be your new friend, Anastasia, is it?" William asked, looking down at the short girl next to Connor.

"Ana." she corrected with a soft smile, "It's nice to meet you." though even as she said the words, she wasn't sure if she was actually pleased to meet the man or in fear of him. William stood at almost the same height that Sam did, but he was larger than her uncle could ever get. The muscles in his arms alone were wider than the width of Ana's neck and he didn't get much smaller anywhere else.

"The pleasure is all mine, Ana." William gave her a warm smile and it was then that she realized that what his size did to scare her, the warmth in his eyes and his soft smile counteracted it. "Come, meet everyone else!" he added, the southern drawl much more prominent in his voice than it was in Connor's, he must have lived there longer than Connor had.

Connor gave her hand a squeeze and then gave her a reassuring smile as they walked toward the rest of his coven. William had stepped aside to talk with Diane as Connor introduced the three remaining members in the room. Xavier and Danika were brother and sister, which wasn't hard to tell. Xavier stood just a few inches taller than his sister, but they both had the same chocolate brown hair color and olive complexions. One of the only big differences between the two was their eye colors, Danika's being an almost grey blue while Xavier's were a golden brown. Then there was Gregory, the shortest of the men within the group, but what he lacked in height he made up with in charm. His caramel skin was flawless and the brown of his eyes was so deep that Ana was convinced a person could literally get lost looking into them for too long. The black hair atop his hair was buzzed short and his strong jawline was framed by a short cut, well groomed beard. As the two were introduced, Gregory kissed the back of Ana's hand and began to compliment her on her beauty. "Alright, Greg, don't scare the girl off." Connor teased with a smile.

Their introductions were quick and the entire group seemed extremely friendly as well as a little excited to have Ana joining them for the night. As the conversation slowly turned from Ana's arrival to what they would be working on that night, she pulled Connor's attention to her, "How many natural witches are in this group?" she questioned. From what she learned from the books he'd given her, naturals were rarely heard of and if that was because they didn't want to be found or because there just weren't many left, no one was certain of.

"Just you, me, and Diane." Connor told her softly, "These four are students, though they've all been practicing for many years."

She nodded at the new information and took in each person in the room again, focusing on the energy rolling off of each of them in turn before deciding that these were people she wouldn't mind doing magic with or learning from. That night was all about catching up with Connor and getting to know Ana though. They chatted as a group for a while and she was really enjoying herself, which should have been the first hint that something was going to go wrong. Her cell phone began to vibrate in her pocket and after quickly digging it out, she only glanced at the screen long enough to see Sam's name before she answered it, "Sam, how's the hunt going?"

"Ana?! Something happened, Dean's hurt pretty bad and Castiel isn't answering any of my prayers." Sam spoke quickly, panic in his tone.

Connor watched as Ana's face paled. Grabbing her arm, he led her quickly back past the curtain so she could take the call in some amount of privacy. "How bad is it?" she asked, flicking worried eyes to Connor, of course one of them would get hurt on this hunt. Winchester's weren't allowed breaks from anything.

"It's bad, I've tried to stop the bleeding but I can't. I won't be able to get him to the hospital in time and unless you or Cas come to help I don't know if he'll make it." Sam hurriedly explained.

"Dean's hurt, Cas isn't answering, we need to get to them _now_." Ana told Connor, fear in her eyes at the thought of her father being so seriously injured.

Connor began to quickly move around the shop, grabbing a dagger and candle off of a nearby display, "You're not ready to teleport and this is the next quickest form of transportation." he explained as he walked back over to her. Using his powers the light the candle, he grabbed the hit of the dagger, "I need your blood." the words were barely out of his mouth before he grabbed her hand, opened up the palm, and cut a thin line across her palm.

Ana hissed at the sudden pain, "Ana? What's wrong?" Sam asked, having heard her over the phone.

"Nothing. We'll be there shortly." she assured him, looking at Connor for instructions on what to do next. Holding her hand over the flame, he let three drops of her blood drop onto the flame before saying a quick spell and then suddenly they were standing next to Sam, who was knelt next to the bleeding form of his brother that lay on the asphalt of the alleyway. "Dad!" Ana knelt down next to Sam and looked over her father's wounds. There was a long cut across his abdomen, starting up near his heart and ending in a curve around his hip. From what she could tell that was the injury she needed to be worrying about.

Sam had taken off his jacket and was applying pressure to the wound, looking up from his brother's pained face to focus on his niece's worried expression, "Is there anything you can do?" he asked. They hadn't talked in much detail about how her studies were going, but he hoped she or Connor knew enough to fix Dean.

"Connor, I tucked a bag of spell supplies in the trunk of the Impala. I need you to get it for me." Ana instructed, her voice surprisingly calm for the fear that was in her eyes. She didn't look up from her father when Connor ran to the car parked just next to them or to even look at Sam, "I can close the wound and stop the bleeding, but if he's lost too much blood... I'm not sure there's anything I can do about that."

Sam nodded, glancing up as Connor ran back to them with a medium sized bag in his hands, and then turning his attention back to his brother, "He's lost more blood than this before, we just need to stop it before it get worse." he explained hopefully, applying more pressure to the wound.

Taking the bag from Connor's hand, Ana quickly opened it and began to dig through it's contents, pulling out only what she knew she needed. "Is there anyway I can help?" Connor asked, kneeling next to Dean on the opposite side of the other two Winchesters.

"No, I'm almost done." Ana's response was short and she finished mixing the last of the ingredients in the bowl. "Move Sam." she instructed, placing the bowl directly on top of Dean's wound once Sam's hands were out of the way. Waving a hand over the bowl, a small fire started in the center of the herbs in the bowl and as it grew she began to recite a spell in Latin. Just as the herbs became completely burnt through and Ana finished the spell, a soft wind blew around them and Dean sucked in a deep breath. Moving the bowl off of her father, Ana threw himself down on the man, and hugged him tightly.

Dean looked back and forth between Sam and Connor before wrapping his arms around his daughter, returning her hug. The pain that had almost knocked him unconscious was now gone and though he was certain he was no longer bleeding out, he was still in some minor pain. "Hey, thanks for patching me up, kid." he spoke softly to Ana, feeling her tremble in his arm.

She nodded as she pushed herself off of him and stood to her feet, letting Sam help her dad to stand as well. "So is the bastard that did this to you dead?"

Sam shook his head, "We almost had him when out of nowhere he pulled an ugly looking blade out and got the jump on Dean. I shot him, but he ran off."

"Dad, you should go rest at whatever motel room you guys have been staying in. I was able to close up the wound and stop the bleeding, but you still lost quite a bit of blood and shouldn't be doing much. Sam, you should take him." Ana looked at Connor, "You and I are going to hunt down this shifter."

Dean scoffed, "Like hell you are. I'm fine, we can still hunt this thing down." he argued, even though he knew that he was leaning a bit too much into his little brother to make the statement seem true.

Ana sighed, "Do not make me lock you inside of the Impala, it will be extremely uncomfortable for you while your body continues to heal and probably really boring." she warned, "Not four days ago we took down a Knight of Hell, a shifter isn't going to be able to do much to either Connor or I. Plus, freaking monsters need to learn to leave my family alone."

Before he began to argue again, Dean felt extremely light headed and even more of his weight needed to be held up by Sam. "Ana, I don't think it's smart for you two to go after him alone. We can start looking for him together tomorrow after Dean's had some time to heal up." Sam spoke up, not wanting to have to worry about his brother healing correctly while worrying about his niece being up against a shifter without them to look out for her.

Giving her weakened father a long look, Ana finally nodded, "Fine, the last thing you need is to worry about me out hunting when you need to be resting. We'll go after it tomorrow." she agreed, moving to help Sam get Dean in the back seat of the Impala. There was nothing she wanted more than to go find the shifter and snap his neck for hurting her dad, but as she calmed down in the back seat watching her dad sleep next to her, she questioned if she really had it in her to kill the shifter.


	24. Chapter 24

_A/N: Hey guys, so fair warning, the beginning of this chapter is pretty choppy timeline wise. Other than a lot of lackluster slow romance and simple hunts not much would have been in following chapters if I had written it all out, so I just kind of condensed it. If any of you would like more detailed chapters on what happened during the time I bounced around, I will have no problem writing some shorter additional chapters, which I would post separately, so just let me know. Also, I may be taking a little longer to post chapters in the near future. There's some crazy personal junk going on in my life that is making it hard to focus, but I promise to try my best to get at least one up a week. Anyway, enough of my babble, please enjoy._

It didn't take much for Dean to heal enough to go after the shifter the next day and with the four of them working together, they took the monster out easily. A few days passed before Dean had fully recovered from the wound, but after that things seemed to go back to normal, at least as normal as it got for the Winchesters. Days passed then weeks, hunts came and went, other than that things were pretty slow. Ana and Connor worked for hours each day on her learning everything she could about being a witch and what that meant for her magic. Though he had originally thought it would take a while before Ana could control all of her power, it seemed that the amount she held within her didn't dampen the learning curve at all. If anything it had the opposite effect. Months went by, their relationship developed into something a bit more serious and though they took their time with it all, it was clear that Dean still hadn't completely come to terms with it.

Oddly enough nothing Earth shattering came up as time passed and the family grew closer. Heaven was running smoothly enough according to their angel friends and they hadn't heard much from Hell's end, other than the normal possessions. Ana couldn't believe it when spring rolled around and it was time to apply to colleges, so much of her time had been eaten up by witchcraft and hunting (though the most she did was help with research and train when the brothers were at the bunker) that time passed faster than she thought possible. She sent applications to a handful of schools, each being at most a day's drive from the bunker, and she had received acceptance letters from three. After talking with both Dean and Heather, she decided that the smaller school just on the other side of the Colorado border would be best, that way she was a little closer to the family she had left in Montana while still being close enough to her dad and uncle in Lebanon.

The closer it got to August, the more awkward the relationship between Ana and Connor got. Though they had talked about Connor going back to Louisiana to be with his coven while Ana went to school, the thought of the strange long distance relationship they would have didn't set well with either witch, even if they could easily teleport to one another. They had spent almost a year together, about a month and a half shy of that dating, and both knew that something like this would be a possibility, even if neither wanted to admit it. Connor had not only become her boyfriend, but also her best friend and losing one or both of those things was something Ana wasn't prepared for. Yet it ended up being exactly what happened. In the month leading up to her leaving the bunker Connor spent more and more time in Louisiana, working at the bar owned by his coven mate, William, and falling back into his place in the coven itself. Two days before she was due on campus she sat down with Connor and they talked for hours, seeming to loop back to the same conclusion, the one they were both dreading. He packed all of his things that afternoon and had left just after dinner.

Dean and Sam had both come to help her move into her dorm room. Her roommate, Grace, seemed nice enough and made it just a _little_ awkward with how much she was staring at both of the Winchester men. "Your dad is so hot." Grace had commented as her family left her to drive back to Lebanon and the comment made Ana shutter, that was the only moment she was thankful that Dean hadn't been around while she was younger. Classes started the next day and though Ana was very excited, but by the end of the day all of the excitement was gone. All of her classes were general education classes, the things everyone had to take at least one credit of to be qualified for graduating, but how could she focus on things like basic algebra or public speaking when she knew that the world was full of monsters?

In hopes of keeping to her original dream of being a college graduate, she spent most of her time studying for her classes, even if the subject was something she easily understood. When she wasn't studying for school, she was furthering her knowledge of magic, and in the odd occasions she wasn't doing either, she let Grace convince her to do one thing or another. At first it was campus stuff; pep rallies, football games, a movie night on the soccer field, and free donut night in the school's coffee shop. After five weekends of that Grace found something different for them to do, "Come on, it's just a party. It's in one of the apartments for the upperclassmen and sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun. You have to come!" she told Ana as she got ready to leave their room for said party. Grace was one of those girls that instantly attracted the room's attention once she entered it. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and a winning smile paired with her longs legs that were toned after years of playing volleyball and a genuinely warm personality; people flocked to her. Ana had expected her to fall into the ditsy, blond stereotype when they had first met, but Grace was actually really smart and was trying extremely hard to be friends with Ana, even if the redhead made it a little difficult.

"The last time I got drunk I needed stitches and reverted to being a five year old child in search for love. No thank you." Ana replied, glancing back to her laptop after watching Grace sweep her long hair into a ponytail.

Walking across the room, Grace snatched Ana's laptop from where it sat on her outstretched legs and snapped it closed, "Yeah, you told me about that. Honestly, that conversation was bound to happen between you and your dad anyway. This is really about that Connor guy isn't it?" She gave Ana a look that dared her to try and lie about it, "You've avoided the entire male populace of the school like they all have the plague."

Ana rolled her eyes, "This isn't about Connor." she stood from her desk chair and tried to move past the girl in front of her, but Grace wouldn't let her pass.

"You two called it off, right? The way you made it sound, it seemed like you both decided it was the best call. Plus, he's in a completely different state, I don't think you having a couple of drinks and dancing will harm him any. Now, you're going and if I literally have to drag you, I will." Grace looked at the sweats and tee shirt Ana was in, "So you can either change your clothes and walk with me like a normal human being or I can drag you like that."

The redhead glared at her roommate, who was the closest thing she'd had to a friend, other than Connor and Charlie, since she had left Montana. "Fine! Give me ten minutes." Ana threw her hands in the air in defeat.

-A-

They came to understand that the party wasn't just in one apartment in the three story complex across the campus from their dorm hall, but it was the whole first floor of the building. All of the actual apartments were on the second and third floors, the first one holding what seemed to be a lobby set up. There were large speakers blaring loud music and colored lights flashed all over the place. "This is crazy!" Grace called over the music to Ana as they made their way into the mass of bodies.

 _Exactly why I didn't want to come,_ Ana thought to herself. She considered just turning around and going back to their room, but Grace grabbed onto Ana's wrist and pulled her through the crowd. Easily finding four coolers full of beer and what looked to be a makeshift bar next to it, if the bottles and cups lining the table were anything to go by.

"You need to loosen up! Here, drink this!" Grace told her as she grabbed a shot glass full of some pink liquid and pushed it into Ana's hand. Picking up another one for herself, she turned her charming smile on her roommate, "Cheers!"

Ana watched as Grace downed the liquid and then took her own shortly after, _Might as well get the full college experience,_ the thought ran through her head as Grace handed her another shot glass, this one containing something blue.

The girls drank for a little while longer before a song came on that Grace insisted they needed to dance to and they made their way toward the great room, which seemed to be where everyone was dancing at. After the drinks they had Ana was feeling a little more into the party and though she didn't know the song playing, it had a nice beat and she found herself dancing along with Grace. A couple of hours went by like that, the two drinking and dancing, though Ana insisted that she not drink nearly as much as Grace was so that one of them would be sober enough to get them back to their room.

After another round of dancing they made their way outside to get some fresh air. The guy that had been dancing with Grace through the last song followed them out and the three of them struck up an easy conversation with another small group of people standing just outside of the building. Grace's dance partner, Ethan, whispered something into her ear and slowly pulled her away from the group, walking with her just around the corner of the building. Ana continued the conversation with the group but would glance back toward where Grace and Ethan had disappeared frequently, a strange feeling growing her in stomach. It had been a while since she'd had her last vision and though the feeling was something she was normally associate with the power, she chalked it up to the alcohol in her system. That is until the flashes started. What she was seeing was choppy and hard to understand at first, but when they cleared up a little Ana was able to make out the horrific scene. Without another word to the group around her, she turned on her heel and sprinted off in the direction Grace had gone. As she rounded the corner of the building, she caught sight of them. Thankfully they weren't that far down the long wall of the building and she could just make out the two forms pressed up against the building.

"No. Ethan, stop." Grace's words were muttered, but even with being a ways away from the pair Ana could hear them.

Ethan held Grace against the building with his body, "Shhh, it's okay. Just a little fun."

Ana's stomach churned and she picked up her sprint again, glad that Sam had made running a part of her training otherwise she wouldn't have made it to the pair in time without using her powers and the last thing she needed was someone to see her teleport while trying to save her friend. Sliding to a halt, Ana gripped on to Ethan's shoulder and pulled him away from Grace, pushing him back, "She said stop, ass hole." she snapped at the pathetic excuse for a man that stood in front of her.

"But we were just starting to have fun, weren't we Grace?" Ethan's eyes flicked between the girls, "You could have some fun with us too." he offered, reaching a hand out toward Ana.

Making sure to place herself between Ethan and Grace, Ana grabbed onto his wrist and moved quickly, twisting his arm behind him at a painful angle. "You really don't want to do this." she warned him in a low growl before throwing him toward the ground with a thrust. "Come on, Grace, let's go." she hurried over to her friend and wrapped a protective arm around her, ushering her back toward the main entrance of the building.

Behind them Ethan slowly got up from the ground, "You bitch!" he swore loudly as he finally reached his feet, "You're going to pay for that!" he added as he stalked quickly toward them.

Glancing over her shoulder, Ana swore when she saw him heading in their direction, "Grace, I want you to run as fast as you can toward the front of the building and do not stop until there are other people around you. Alright?"

"But, Ana-"

"Go, now!" Ana interrupted her, turning to face the man that was just feet from them. Ethan held a height and weight advantage over her, though she seemed to be a little more sober than he was and she was thankful for that. She gave a look over her shoulder, glad to see that Grace had almost reached the front of the building, but as she turned her attention back to her opponent, he was standing directly in front of her with a wicked smile.

"You just wanted me all to yourself, didn't you?" He questioned, eyes roaming over her body in their own assault.

Ana scoffed, "Yeah, so I could kick your ass without witnesses." she snapped. It was then that Ethan launched himself at her, seeming to be going for a two hand grip around her neck. Quickly pushing his arms away and side stepping, she brought her knee up and connected it with his abdomen. The move seemed to have little effect on him, probably due to the fact that he wasn't feeling much because of how drunk he was, but he stood and swung a fist toward her face. Easily dodging it, Ana lifted her leg again and planted the bottom of her foot into his chest. Apparently even in his drunken state, Ethan was used to fighting, because he proceeded to latch onto her ankle and pull on her leg with enough force to drop her onto her back on the ground.

"Ana!" Grace's voice called into the night. Both Ana and Ethan looked toward the front of the building to see that Grace had pulled a small crowd toward the side of the building, mostly guys, probably in hopes that they would stop Ethan.

Ana took the distraction and swiped both of Ethan's legs out from underneath him before quickly kneeling next to him. She could hear the crowd getting closer, but she wanted to make sure that Ethan understood not to mess with her or Grace again, so she pinned him to the ground. Using her legs to pin down each of his arms, she glared down at him, "If you ever touch another woman like that on this campus, I will hunt you down." she threatened lowly before throwing a punch across his face, not hard enough to knock him unconscious, but he would be disorientated and have a bruise the next day.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" Grace asked in a panic, watching Ana stand as the group circled around her friend and her assailant.

Brushing a hand through her hair, Ana nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. What about you, are you okay?" she asked, not worried about herself at all. Other than dropping her on her back, Ethan hadn't hit her at all and she had suffered more at the hands of both Sam and Dean than she had in the fight she had just been in.

Grace nodded, tears rimming her eyes, "Thanks to you. How'd you know?"

"I didn't, but you disappeared and I was worried." Ana answered simply, the crowd around them had turned their attention to Ethan as he slowly began to stand up. "Come on, let's get back to our room." she placed her arm around Grace's waist and led her back to their dorm, ready to protect her from Ethan should he follow them.

-A-

"You kicked his ass, right?" Dean's voice carried over the phone that Ana held between her ear and shoulder as she sat typing on her laptop.

Readjusting her position, she grabbed the phone with her hand and moved her laptop from her lap to the desk in front of her, "Yeah, left a pretty nice bruise on the left side of his face too." she answered, rubbing her free hand over her eyes.

"That's my girl." Dean commented and she could hear the grin in his voice.

Sam cleared his throat, they had the phone on speaker like they did almost every time Ana called, "Did you report the guy?" he questioned.

"Grace and I both did. I watched campus security walk him off of the property

earlier today, so hopefully they kicked him out or something. I'm honestly not sure what they do in situations like this." Ana stood up from her chair and walked over to her bed, throwing herself down on it. "I should probably head to class soon, my bio lecture starts in fifteen minutes."

"Alright, well you have fun with that. Don't think too hard." Dean teased.

Sam sighed, "Just take care of yourself, Ana. If you need anything call us." he instructed.

She rolled her eyes, "I'll be fine. Love you both." After ending the call, she stood up and looked around her bedroom. The incident with Ethan had happened on Saturday, it was now Wednesday and she hadn't been to any of her classes that week purely because her mind couldn't stop thinking about that night. It hadn't been all that traumatizing for her, Grace had been the one assaulted, but she knew there were worse things in the world than guys like Ethan and she knew how to stop them. So why was she wasting her time in class? She was a freaking Winchester, hunting was in her blood and adding that on top of being a witch, there was no way she could completely avoid the hunting lifestyle. At first the thought of hunting had scared her, then over the time she spent in the bunker it didn't seem so bad. Yeah, there's was always the chance that you could get hurt or die, but the thought of monsters walking the earth and killing innocent people frightened her more.

-A-

It was two weeks since Ana began to skip classes and she had already been on a couple of nearby hunts. There had been a haunting in a small town just down the highway from campus that had been easy enough to solve. A woman had committed suicide after learning that her husband had been cheating on her with the receptionist at his office building, classic vengeful spirit. The latest case had been another witch and though the woman had been years older than Ana, her magic wasn't very strong. The witch had been hexing people all over the town she was living in and Ana had easily gotten rid of her, not even feeling bad. Borrowers were evil, there was no grey area. Swapping their soul for powers with a demon was the complete opposite of good, but she would have guessed that killing a fellow witch would have been a little more difficult for her to handle.

By the time she got back to campus and into her dorm it was well past midnight. Grace was sleeping and Ana tried to be as quiet as she could coming into the room. The witch had put up quite the fight and Ana was covered in small cuts, dried blood, and she was pretty sure that some of that blood wasn't hers. Grabbing the bag that held her toiletries and a fresh set of clothes, she made her way into the communal showers, thankful that they were always empty this time of night. After starting the water, she stripped out of her clothes and gave her body a once over. None of the cuts were too bad, she wouldn't need to bandage any of them, which she was happy about. Stepping under the warm water, she hissed for a moment as it hit her tender skin, but it became easy to ignore after a while. Drying off and quickly getting dressed, she gathered her things before retreating back to her room. Once her head hit the pillow, Ana fell into a deep sleep, the fight with the witch having taken all of her energy.

-A-

Five hours later Grace's alarm started going off, she got up early during the week to run drills with the rest of the volleyball team. Their first game was just around the corner and the coach was working the girls hard to make sure they would all play their best, or that was how Grace had explained it. Normally the athletic girl did her best to be quiet as she got ready in the morning, but as she glanced over to her roommate's bed she let out a gasp, "Ana, what the hell happened to your arms?" They were covered in what looked to be scratches. Now, Grace wasn't the kind of person to go snooping into other people's business, but she knew that Ana hadn't been coming back to the room until late in the night and had been sleeping through her first three classes, while completely avoiding the rest.

With a groan, Ana rolled over and squinted at her roommate, not wanting to open her eyes any further than needed, "What?" she asked, the question taking a moment to process in her tired brain, "Oh, I uh.. tripped walking back last night and landed in one of the rose bushes." the lie was weak and she knew it, but hopefully Grace either wouldn't notice or would let it slide.

"Rose bushes?" Grace sounded doubtful. Raising an eyebrow at her friend, she sat on the corner of Ana's bed, "What are you doing so late in the night anyway? You're not getting into any trouble, are you?" though they had known each other such a short amount of time, Grace felt the need to worry about the girl that had saved her from being another crazy party statistic about assault.

Ana shook her head, using her hand to cover her eyes from the sunlight that was filtering through the window, "No, no trouble." she assured Grace, giving her a weak smile, "Why don't we talk about this later? I need more sleep and you need to get moving otherwise you're going to be late."

Grace looked at the clock, if she didn't hurry to get ready she _would_ be late and then she would be kept out of their first game. "Fine, but we are going to talk about this." her tone was a little stern, which made Ana smile a little more.

"I promise. Now get out of here so I can sleep." The redhead teased and pulled her blanket up over her head. Ana waited until she heard Grace leave before pulling the blanket away from her face and making herself comfortable again, hoping that she could get a few more hours of sleep before she had to leave the room to avoid the talk with her roommate.

-A-

It was around noon when Ana got up and changed into decent clothes, wearing a jacket to cover her arms so no one else asked about her tiny, but numerous battle wounds. Deciding the best way to avoid Grace would be to actually make an appearance in one of her classes, she grabbed her bag and laptop before setting off for the lecture hall for her psychology class. She made it just before the class started and hurried into a seat, not missing the glances that were shot her way and the shared whispers of people sitting next to each other. Just as the professor was walking in and setting his things up, a guy sitting a few rows in front of her turned to look at her, "Hey, you're the girl that handed Ethan his ass, right?" he asked, the small group of guys sitting around him turned to look at her as well.

Ana rolled her eyes, of course everyone knew now, "Yeah, I am." she answered simply, brushing a hand through her hair before placing her laptop on the small table that swung out from the side of the seat.

"I heard that it took you like five minutes to get him to the ground." One of the other guys commented a little loud, pulling the attention of anyone near them toward their conversation.

"Five minutes?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow as the group gave her a collective nod, "My guess would have been it didn't even take that long, but I wasn't really timing it."

The professor called the room's attention to him as he began a lecture on the ego, id, and superego. The topic itself was something Ana was familiar with because of the psych class she took in high school, but she paid attention and took notes anyway. That is until the topic of her fight began to pass around in whispers through the mass of freshman and sophomores in the class, the gossip new again now that one of the participants was among them. Dr. Henley, the young professor teaching the class, paused mid sentence and looked around the lecture hall, "I wasn't aware the that you all are such experts on this topic, would one of you like to come and teach instead?" he raised his voice to pull attention back to him. "Or would you rather continue to gossip about whatever trivial, high school-esk topic you all are so focused on?" An embarrassed quiet fell over the room. "No, don't stop on my account, I would love to know what all the talk is about. We can analyze it as a class and get to the root of why it's so important." No one spoke up, so Dr. Henley jumped off of the raised platform at the front of the hall and walked up the the stairs on the left side of the hall, "You, sir," he pointed to a guy sitting near the end of one of the front rows, "ten points toward your next test score if you fill me in on the topic of discussion."

Ana recognized the the blond haired guy as one of the guys that had been part of the group Grace had pulled away from the party to help stop Ethan, "We were talking about the fight that happened outside of McKinley Hall a couple of weeks ago."

"Of course you are!" Dr. Henley feigned excitement, "I'm sorry that I haven't heard the news yet, who would like to fill me in?" He looked around the room and took a couple more steps up, "You, there," he pointed toward the guy who had spoken to Ana first out of the group sitting directly in front of her. "Let's hear the story."

The guy shrugged, "I don't know much, I've only heard bits and pieces around school, but she" he gestured behind him to Ana, "was the one in it. Ask her."

Dr. Henley's eyes turned to the redhead who looked like she was going to murder the one that directed the classes attention to her, "Cat fight?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow in Ana's direction.

"Hardly." She answered, closing the screen of her laptop, "I do believe that would call for the fight to be between two girls."

"So your opponent was male?" The doctor asked, seeming intrigued now. Ana nodded and ran a hand through her hair, choosing to avoid answering verbally. "It doesn't seem that much harm was done to you, how did your opponent fair?"

It was then that another student spoke up, a girl with black hair near the front of the room, "I saw Ethan the next day and he had a dark bruise on his face. If she would have hit him any higher it would have been a black eye."

"It would appear that you were the victor, am I correct in assuming that, Miss…?"

"Winchester." She provided her last name for the professor, "And yes, you are correct." her tone was bored, she honestly didn't want to be having a

conversation in a room full of people about how she took down a guy twice her size.

Dr. Henley turned to look at the room, "You heard it folks, Miss Winchester was the victor of the battle. Would anyone like to get any other part of this cleared up or can we return to our lesson?" When no one spoke, he walked back down toward the front of the room and picked up the lecture where he had left off.

The rest of the class went by slowly and Ana was tempted to just get up and walk out, but she didn't want to draw any more attention to herself than she already had. Letting out a sigh of relief as Dr. Henley excused the class, she gathered her things and walked out of the room with a devil may care attitude that her father would have been proud of. Making it back to her dorm room without incident, she left her laptop on her desk, grabbed her car keys and headed back out the door. If this was how college was going to be for her, Ana wasn't sure that she wanted to stick around much longer, but she also didn't want to disappoint her family.

Once in her car, she pulled away from the school and drove aimlessly, letting the loud music blaring through her speakers help clear her mind. The story of her fight would pass soon enough, but what about when it happened again, because it was bound to. College campuses were notorious for sexual assault and if she were to catch it happening again, she wouldn't just sit back and let it happen. There was really no point in staying around, she should just pack her things and start looking for monsters to hunt. If the two cases she had worked solo so far were anything to go by, hunting would be something she was actually pretty good at, but that wasn't surprising when she had a hunter's training as well as control of powerful magic. It was then in the car that she made up her mind, she would take up the family business just as her father and uncle had, she would help rid the world of evil, and she was going to avoid telling both Dean and Sam about it for as long as possible.


	25. Chapter 25

_Author's Note at the end. :)_

 _Wolves at the Door - Bad Seed Rising_

 _Wild eyed, he is dressed to the nines_

 _The moon is hanging above him like a halo on fire_

 _Black hands, he's out there looking for lambs_

 _You better lock up the mansion baby, throw away the key_

' _Cause wolves are at the door_

 _Don't let them in cause you know what they came for_

 _Full blown silver tongue_

 _Keep one eye open and your hand on the shotgun_

 _Oh what a innocent child, what a beautiful prey_

 _When those wolves come around, you better keep them away_

-A-

Being a witch had many perks, one of which was glamour spells. It made falsifying paperwork to get a real ID, stating that she was twenty-one and not nineteen, so much easier than it would have been otherwise. Ana was extremely thankful that she had thought to do that shortly after arriving on campus, wanting to make sure she could get in anywhere she wanted without having to fight about being so young. That was what made it possible for her to be sitting at the bar, in a rather upscale joint, that she never would have set foot in if it weren't for the case she was following. She had heard about one murder so far where the female victim's heart was missing and it had instantly spiked her interest. Colorado Springs wasn't too far of a drive from the college, but Ana probably would have gone to check it out anyway, she was becoming restless avoiding her classes and hiding in her dorm room. Since there had only been one reported victim so far, other hunters wouldn't have picked up on the case yet, but once she had reached the city and found a cheap motel room, she had done a spell and it pointed her to the werewolf she was certain had murdered the poor girl.

Ana was aware that the full moon wasn't for another two weeks, which meant that the wolf she was after was a pure-blood and that she had her work cut out for her. Sitting at the bar, her eyes focused on the large gold plating that lined the wall, making it easy for her to look around the room without drawing too much attention to herself. The first night she spent in the city she had a vision of the room she sat in, getting glimpses of the monster as he hunted for his next victim, and Ana knew that she had to be there to stop him from taking any other unexpecting woman. Her eyes roamed slowly from one end of the reflective surface to the other as she nursed the martini in her hand, that was honestly pretty gross, but she was sticking to the roll that she had set out for herself before leaving the motel for the bar. Her eyes landed on the man from her vision and she swore, though he looked to be at least ten years older than her, she had to admit that he was extremely good looking. He was tall with a muscular body that was wrapped amazingly in a black on black suit and his brown hair was kept short and neat. _Alright, here goes nothing,_ she thought to herself as she stood from the chair she had been sitting in.

The plan had been to grab his attention and let him think that he had found his next victim in her, but that all hindered on Ana actually getting his attention without throwing herself at him. Her long red hair fell over her shoulder and down her back in loose waves, covering up part of the skin on her back that was revealed by the tight black dress that clung to her body. The tall black, strappy heels she wore clicked against the floor as she moved through the crowd, making sure that she walked just past the monster. She could feel the controlled hostility vibrating off of him as she got closer and knew that he had killed more than the one woman that had recently been found. Just as she was about to pass him, her green eyes flicked up to meet his deep brown ones and in that instant she knew that she had him where she needed him.

Ana held his gaze as she walked past him, listening as he excused himself from the conversation he was having with three other men and began to follow behind her. This was going to be tricky, her outfit was too tight and revealing to hide any weapons and she had to keep a damper on her powers otherwise he would probably be able to sense them before she was ready to fight him. If she didn't play this just right she could end up seriously hurt or dead, but she had to do this. Stepping out the glass doors and on to the street, she walked toward the edge of the sidewalk as if she were waiting for a taxi to drive by. "Leaving so early?" A smooth, low voice came from behind her. Jumping, Ana feigned surprise and spun to see the man standing just in front of the doors. "My apologizes, I didn't mean to scare you, but I couldn't help but notice a beautiful woman leaving so early in the night and alone at that."

She forced herself to give him a convincing smile, red lips parting in a soft laugh, "Oh, no, it's okay. I just didn't know you were there."

"Mind if I ask why you're alone?" He took a couple steps toward her, returning her smile with a small one of his own.

"I was supposed to meet a date, but he's a half hour late." Ana shrugged slightly, acting as if she was brushing it off, "Figured I should leave before I make an even bigger fool of myself."

He seemed to be laying on his best charm as he stared into her eyes, "A woman as gorgeous as you could never make a fool of themselves. The fool in this situation would be the man that stood you up, but as the saying goes, one man's loss is another man's gain." he chose that moment to give her a wide smile, "My name is Devin." he extended his hand.

Ana placed her hand in his, "Vanessa, it's nice to meet you." she gave him the name that she had decided to use before she left the motel.

"I assure you Vanessa, the pleasure is all mine." Devin brought her hand toward his lips and placed a small kiss on the top of it. "If you're not too set on leaving I would love to take you back inside and buy you a drink."

 _Well this should be fun._ The thought was full of sarcasm as she watched Devin for a moment, "I guess that doesn't sound like such a bad offer." She seemed to contemplate his offer, knowing very well that she didn't want to waste any more time than she had to. This was the werewolf she was after and Ana just wanted to get it over with, the guy gave her the creeps even through all of his charm. "Though I'd much rather skip the drinks and move on to the main course." she offered with a suggestive smile.

The smile that spread across Devin's lips was a little too animalistic for Ana's liking, but she didn't let it show, "A woman who knows what she wants, I can appreciate that." He glanced around, the movement of his eyes was quick and most women wouldn't have caught it, but having been trained by two of the world's best hunters, it didn't go unnoticed by Ana. "Shall we head back to my place? I'm parked just around back."

It was more than likely they wouldn't make it to his car, Ana knew this and the alley that led from the front of the building to the parklot in the back made her assumption seem like a fact. "Lead the way." she let her smile soften, hoping she didn't seem like she was trying too hard.

Devin offered her his arm and once she slid her arm through his, they walked down the alley toward the opposite side of the building. "You know, Vanessa, you really do look lovely. Some say good enough to eat." as he looked over at her, he allowed his eyes and hands to begin to change. There was nothing more refreshing to him than a chase and it was normally this trick that got him exactly what he wanted.

"Really?" Ana questioned, dropping the act as she looked up at him, "That's the line you're going with? I swear to God if you make a Little Red Riding Hood reference I may just walk away."

Shock was clear on his face when she didn't even flinch from his changed appearance, "What the… Who are you?!" he demanded, as he wrapped one hand around her wrist and the other around her throat, pushing her back until she was up against the brick building they had left not long ago.

Grinning, the witch threw her power at the werewolf, throwing him away from her, "It's not so much who I am that's the issue here, it's what I am."

"Witch." The word was spat from Devin's mouth as he pulled himself off of the ground, "What feud do you have with me?" For the most part the species left each other alone, happy to wreck their own havoc while leaving the rest alone. So why was this witch attacking him?

With a flick on her wrist Ana knocked him back to the ground, "You are correct, I am a witch, but I'm also a hunter."

"A witch and a hunter?" The possibility of those two things being paired was ridiculous, "How does a witch become a hunter?" Devin watched her carefully as he stayed perfectly still, if he was lucky she would get distracted enough that he could attack and he knew that if he didn't get that chance he was a dead man.

Slowly walking over to him, Ana gave him a look worthy of a Winchester, "One thing led to another. Powerful witch bloodline meets skilled hunter bloodline and poof, here I am. Honestly, it's not fair to you, but I don't really care seeing as how you're a murderer."

Devin waited until she was close enough before he fought against her magic with all of his strength and lashed out at her with a clawed hand, digging his overgrown nails across the skin of her calf. As the pain flared through her body Ana lost almost all concentration, this was not something she had been prepared for, nothing could prepare you from blinding pain other than actually experiencing it. Her attention slowly came back to the werewolf who was now standing in front of her, claws at the ready and a look in his eyes that said he wasn't playing. Raising her arm, she tried to focus her power on throwing him back, but the pain was too much and he was able to push her back against the wall again. "You sure don't seem to be as ready for this as you should be, little witch." His claws slashed against her abdomen, drawing a scream from the girl. Devin brought a clawed finger to his mouth and licked the blood off, the action making Ana wince in disgust, "I'm not much of a blood guy, but you taste delicious, I'm sure your heart will as well."

In a last stitch effort to save her life, Ana pulled on her magic and focused it enough to teleport herself and the werewolf to the library of the bunker. Sam and Dean had been sitting at the table, having an idle talk about possible cases they were considering, when there were suddenly two other people in the room. Ana reached a hand out toward one of the displayed blades on the bookshelves, knowing that a couple of them were silver. Just as the blade flew into her hand Devin wrapped his hand around her throat and began to to crush her windpipe.

"Ana!" Dean yelled as he finally realized what was happening, but before he could even reach his daughter she shoved the blade into her attacker's chest, causing the monster to release his hold on her throat and fall to the ground.

With a hand pressed against her abdomen, she looked down at Devin's dead form before looking up at her family, "Hey dad." she got out weakly before she began to sway.

Dean rushed to her side and caught her before she hit her head on the hard floor, "Ana, honey, stay with me." he coaxed her, noticing the amount of blood seeping out of the long scratches that started on her left side near her ribcage, going down and across her body until they stopped just above her right hip. Her breathing was labored and he watched as her eyes fluttered closed. "CAS!" He called for his friend, praying to him silently that he would answer. Sam had pulled off the long sleeved green shirt he had on over his tee shirt as he moved to his niece's side, using it to apply pressure to her wounds. Moments passed and Ana was starting to look pale, which made Dean panic further, "Dammit! Cas! Gabe! Get your ass down here!" he yelled at the ceiling.

There was a soft rustling of wings and Gabriel appeared at Dean's side, "What the hell happened?!" the archangel demanded, glancing at the dead werewolf before placing two fingers to Ana's forehead.

Sam removed his shirt and looked over her stomach, making sure they the wounds were indeed closed before he relaxed slightly, "She showed up fighting him." he explained, looking back over to the dead werewolf, "He must have done the damage before they got here."

Barely paying attention to the conversation going on around him, Dean could only look down at his unconscious daughter wondering what the hell she was doing fighting a werewolf. The dress she was in was ruined and he wondered when Ana had decided that short and skimpy was more her style, he wasn't even aware that she owned anything like it. "Why isn't she waking up?" he directed the question to Gabriel.

"I put her to sleep. Between the blood loss and the fragile state of her magic, I thought it be best that she get some rest." Gabe explained as he looked down at the girl who had housed his grace. "She'll be fine in the morning." he added, hoping to reassure Dean.

He barely nodded, "I'm going to move her to her bedroom. Then we'll go take care of the body." he met his brother's eyes as he said the words. Repositioning Ana in his arms, he slowly stood up and walked out of the library. Once in her room, Dean laid his sleeping daughter on her bed and covered her up, then just stood there for a couple minutes looking at her. Sighing he turned and left her to rest, he had a body to help bury.

-A-

It was just after eight the next morning when Ana stopped in the door of the kitchen to find her father and uncle having breakfast, making small conversation about something Dean had found in the newspaper sitting next to him. "Morning." Ana greeted them as she entered the room to make herself some coffee. When she woke up and realized that she was still in the torn dress from the night before, she'd gathered a pair of jeans and a shirt that she had left in her room before heading to the shower. Now clean and in comfortable clothes she was ready for the conversation that was bound to happen after making an appearance mid fight like she had.

"Morning? Really? That's what you're going to lead off with?" Dean questioned, watching his daughter carefully. Thanks to Gabriel she wasn't showing any signs of the blood loss she had suffered from the night before. "What the hell were you doing fighting a werewolf, Ana? Did he attack you or something?"

Replacing the coffee pot she let her head droop slightly, this was something she didn't want to talk with either Sam or Dean about and she wasn't sure she was ready to deal with the disappointment that was no doubt going to be on both of their faces when she explained herself. "Uh… not exactly."

Dean scoffed, "Would you like to elaborate on that?" he watched as she slowly turned around to face them, "What's going on with you? It's been over a week since we've gotten much more than a one word text message and then you just appear in the middle of the library mid combat with a pure blood werewolf."

"Have you been hunting?" Sam questioned. He had spent much of his time thinking about why she had been acting so weird lately and with what happened last night, it was the logical answer to him.

"Hunting?" Dean's jaw clenched with an audible click, eyes flicking from his brother to his daughter. There was no way that Ana was actually hunting, she had made it pretty clear that killing things wasn't something she thought she could do on a regular basis. The look on her face told him something different though. Her eyes lowered to the floor, not being able to look either of the men in the eye and it was then that he knew Sam was right. "Anastasia, have you been hunting?"

"Dad…" she trailed off, pulling her eyes off of the floor to look him in the eye, "I.. yeah, I've been hunting." the words were forced, she really didn't want the flowing argument to happen but she knew that lying would be worse.

"Alone?" Dean questioned, really hoping he was wrong, but he honestly couldn't think of anyone that she would hunt with other than him and Sam.

"Yes, alone."

Dean's anger flared, not only had she failed to mention she was hunting, she was doing it completely alone. "What the hell, Ana?! Do you know how stupid that is?"

The girl sighed, "Dad, most hunters work alone and they're just human. I'm a witch, I can handle myself."

"Oh, can you? Because when you freaking teleported into the library last night it didn't seem like you were handling it." Dean's voice raised and he was now yelling. "Did you really think you could handle a pure blood werewolf on your own? For your first hunt?!"

"Third hunt." She corrected, holding her father's angry glare.

Sam sat silently at the table, watching the argument go on around him and wondered to himself why Ana hadn't just told them she was hunting. If she was going to do it both brothers would rather she had back up instead of starting off alone. Then a thought struck him, "Are you still going to your classes?" his tone was soft and curious.

Letting her gaze drop to the floor again, she shook her head, "I haven't been to class since the fight with Ethan."

"Why?" He asked, wanting to understand what his niece was thinking.

She brushed a nervous hand through her hair, "I guess I realized that night that I could be out saving people instead of wasting my time in a classroom. Honestly I was thinking about it before I even got moved into the dorms. There's just so much evil in the world and I know I can help get rid of some of it."

"What were your first two hunts?" Sam asked, giving his brother a look that said _Calm down_ before turning his attention back to Ana.

"Uh, the first was a simple haunting in a farmhouse outside of town. The original owner of the land had been murdered by his wife and was coming back to take it out on the new owner's wife. The second was a witch. She had been cursing people in the city she was living in so I went and took care of her." She explained, getting the courage halfway through to look up at her uncle. "I didn't have much trouble handling either of those, not like I did with the werewolf last night."

Dean stood up abruptly from the table, "Because it was a freaking pureblood, Ana! Not only are werewolves in general pretty freaking hard to take down, you had to go after a pureblood!"

"He was killing women, dad! What was I supposed to do, sit back and do nothing?" She argued.

Crossing the room until he was standing in front of his daughter, Dean did what he could to reign in his anger, but all he could think about is what would have happened if she hadn't been able to teleport to them. "You could have called us and we could have taken care of it or we could have sent someone to do so! You're not ready to hunt on your own, Ana, let alone go after a werewolf alone."

"I survived, didn't I?"

"But you almost didn't!" He snapped, the fear that he felt last night slowly creeping back in, "You were almost dead by the time Gabriel got here to heal you." His words made any retort Ana could come up with stick in her throat, she hadn't realized how bad off she had been last night. Other than arriving at the bunker and killing the werewolf, she didn't remember much. "And that is why I never wanted hunting to be in your life! Because death is always just around the corner and you're never sure which breath will be your last."

After setting her coffee cup down on the counter behind her, Ana looked at her father, "I'm not going to stop. I can't. Not only because it's what I feel like I need to be doing, but because I'm actually pretty good at it. You're right, I wasn't ready for that werewolf, but my magic gives me the upper hand in most situations." She sighed, "I know this isn't what you wanted for me, but it is what it is. I'm a Winchester, hunting is in my blood. You need to come to terms with that." Dean's scowl deepened and he just looked her in the eyes for a moment then he turned away from her before his anger could get the best for him. Sam and Ana shared a look as he walked toward the door and out of the kitchen. "Sam?"

"I'll go talk to him." The younger Winchester assured his niece as he stood up from the table and hurried after his brother. Catching up with him in the garage, he watched as Dean moved to get into the Impala, "Where are you going? Don't you think you should stay and figure this out?"

Dean glared at his brother as he sat down in the driver's seat of his baby, "Apparently there's nothing to figure out, she's made up her mind."

Sam shook his head, "You can't be that surprised that this happened. She has a point, Dean, because she's a witch she'll have an advantage. I'm not saying I like the thought of her hunting anymore than you do, but we can't just tell her to stop because then she'll continue to hunt alone and get hurt."

"Don't you think I know that?" Dean slammed his hands down on the steering wheel, "I'm going out." he stated before closing the door of the car, starting the engine, and speeding out of the garage.

The only thing Sam could do was stand there and watch his brother drive off. With a sigh, he turned around and headed back into the bunker, hoping that he could get Ana to further explain how she was feeling so that he could understand what had changed her mind so drastically. When he reached the kitchen it was empty, so he checked the library and when she wasn't there either, he went to her room. Knocking on the door, Sam sighed, "Ana? It's me."

"One minute!" Her muffled voice came through the door and a second later the door was opening, she had a jacket and boots on, which Sam was pretty sure she hadn't had with her last night. Ana caught his confused look, "SImple spell. I can pretty much move anything from one place to another." she explained, before motioning for her uncle to enter the room, "Dad left, didn't he?"

Sam nodded as he walked into her bare room, he forgot how empty it had looked in there after they had moved most of her stuff to the dorms, "Yeah, I think he needs to cool off. You planning on going some where?" he assumed by the boots and jacket that she was planning on leaving.

Ana nodded, "Yeah, I was going to go drop in on Diane."

"Are you going to see Connor while you're there?" He questioned, knowing that she hadn't spoken to the other witch since he left.

She sighed and shook her head, "Probably not. I'm just running low on a couple of spell supplies. I'll pick up what I need, talk to Diane a bit and then come back."

Sam nodded slowly, thinking that maybe Connor was exactly who she needed to talk to, but he wasn't going to stick his nose in her business. "Alright, well I'll be here when you get back. Just be careful."

"I will." Ana gave him a soft smile before closing the space between them to give her uncle a hug, "I shouldn't be too long. I have my phone if you need me." she told him before disappearing. The new room she stood in was a place she hadn't seen in a while and the feeling that filled the shop made her smile. "Hello? Diane?" Ana called, not seeing the shop's owner anywhere.

"Ana!" Diane greeted excitedly as she came out of the doorway that led into the office and storage space. "How are you dear?" the older woman asked as she walked toward Ana and wrapped her in a warm hug.

Ana smiled, Diane's presence automatically making her feel better, "I've been better." she stated, pulling away from the embrace, "I had a rough run in with a werewolf last night."

"Oh, honey, are you okay?" The older woman glanced over her younger friend's body, looking for any signs of a wound.

"I'm fine." Ana assured her with a soft smile, "My dad and uncle have a couple of angels on speed dial. Got healed right up."

Diane smiled, "I'm glad, but you need to be more careful if you're going to start hunting, dear. You're too young and too beautiful to die so soon." she gave Ana a comforting pat on the shoulder, "Now, what can I do for you? Are you here for a visit or do you need supplies?"

"I love our visits, but I'm actually on a supply run. I'm getting pretty low on some of my herbs." Ana glanced around the room, knowing exactly what she was looking for and where it was located, but she always loved to check out the new stuff that the shop got in.

"You know where everything's at, go ahead and get what you need." Diane instructed and left the young girl to her shopping.

It had been a few weeks since Ana had come visit last and she was glad to be surrounded by the calm feeling the seemed to vibrate out of the walls. Smiling to herself, she picked out the few things she needed and stopped at the counter to pay Diane for them. The women said a quick goodbye and Ana left the shop, feeling the need to walk the streets of the French Quarter. She took her time as she looked around the buildings she had grown familiar with and before she knew what she was doing, her feet were carrying her into the one place she had been avoiding over her last few visits.

It wasn't until she heard a bombing voice call her name that she finally realized where she was at. "Ana!" William called once he saw her walk through the door. "How are you?" he questioned as he walked from where he stood behind the bar toward her and wrapping her in a tight hug.

"I'm doing pretty good. How about you, business still going strong?" She took a seat at the bar as he moved to take his position behind the U shaped counter.

"Never really slows down much at night, so I can't complain." The burly man picked up a couple of glasses and began to arrange them. "How are your classes going?"

She sighed, "I've kind of stopped going. Got a little caught up chasing down the bad guys."

"Ah, so you decided to take up hunting then? I thought that it wasn't really your speed?" He continued to work, but his eyes were focused on her.

"It was kind of hard to focus on anything else knowing what's out there. I can do something to help stop it, so I feel like I should. I partially blame my lineage though." She explained, setting the paper bag in her hand on the bar and resting her arms in front of it.

The comment made William laugh, "Yeah, something about being a Winchester makes a person crazy about saving the world, or so I've heard." His eyes glanced up and behind her, obviously focusing on something, "You just gonna stand there, boy, or are you going to come say hi?"

Catching that the question was directed at someone behind her, Ana turned in her chair to see who it was and the moment her eyes fell on all too familiar blue ones, she immediately regretted it. "Connor."

"Hi, Ana." Connor was shocked to see her there, other than the couple of times Diane had mentioned her stopping by the shop for supplies, he hadn't heard much about what she was doing in the two months that they had been apart.

"Well this is clearly a little awkward." Ana muttered, turning to look back at William, "I'll probably be in and out of the city more frequently, I'll come by to see you more." she told him with a caring smile before standing up and grabbing her bag. Things hadn't exactly ended on bad terms with Connor, but she was still hurt by it and she was sure he was too, so instead of saying anything else she walked past him and out the door.

William watched Ana leave before turning his attention to Connor, "Don't be dumb, kid, go after her."

Without thinking, Connor turned around and hurried out the door, "Ana!"

She had made it just down the block before she heard her name called. Spinning around, she paused as her eyes landed on his again, "Yeah?"

"I… How…" He tried to think of anything to say, but he couldn't even figure out how to talk as he got lost in her green eyes. Walking until he was standing just in front of her, he didn't lose her gaze, "Hi." he finally settled on and then mentally cursed himself for how stupid he sounded.

"Hi." She responded, giving him a questioning look.

Before he could think too long on what he wanted to do, Connor placed his hands on the sides of her face and leaned down, pressing his lips against her in a kiss that clearly communicated how much he missed her. He smiled against her lips as he felt her arms wrap around him. Holding the kiss a moment longer, he pulled away and looked back down at her, "Hi." he repeated.

 _A/N: So, not only has it been awhile since I've posted, but this ending is weird as hell to me. Sorry, but it's all I've got right now. The song lyrics posted at the top were what gave me the idea for the beginning plot for this chapter, I will most likely not be posting many chapters that start with lyrics, but I had to share this time. Like I said in my last note, things are crazy in my personal life (I'm getting divorced) and I'm trying my hardest to not let it affect my writing, but my ideas have been coming a little slower. Still trying to stick to at least a chapter a week. GIANT SHOUT OUT to my new favs and follows. Also, I really love you guys, my readers, because you continue to stick through this nonsense so THANK YOU ALL! :) I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter._


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N at the end :)**

 _Previously..._

 _Before he could think too long on what he wanted to do, Connor placed his hands on the sides of her face and leaned down, pressing his lips against her in a kiss that clearly communicated how much he missed her. He smiled against her lips as he felt her arms wrap around him. Holding the kiss a moment longer, he pulled away and looked back down at her, "Hi." he repeated._

Now

It took a moment for Ana to process what had just happened. Connor had kissed her, that much was obvious, but she had kissed him back and _that_ was the problem. In no way had she intended to return the act, it was just instinct, so the confused look on the male witch's face as she pulled away from him was understandable. Words seemed to escape her for a moment and he was clearly waiting for her to speak, but still nothing to explain what had just happened came to mind. "I can't do this." The words were rushed out of her mouth and she teleported away, not caring who could have seen. Reappearing back in the library of the bunker, she dropped into a chair across the table from her uncle, who had his nose buried in a book.

The thud that sounded in front of him caused Sam to lower his book, his focus shifting to the shocked and confused expression of his niece, "Ana? Are you alright?" he questioned as he set the book on the table.

"What?" She lifted her eyes to meet Sam's hazel ones, her mind somewhere obviously not in the room.

"Are you alright?" He repeated himself, becoming a little more worried.

Before she could answer, Connor appeared next to her, "What the hell was that?" he questioned in confusion, not even noticing that Sam was in the room with them, "You can't run away from me after something like that, Ana."

The redhead stood up quickly, "I'm pretty sure the words 'I can't do this' incline that I don't want to be followed." she snapped at him before turning to exit the room.

"And I'm pretty sure that me being a witch means I'm pretty much going to follow you either way." He retorted, following after her as she walked down the hall. "Why won't you just stop and talk to me? One minute we're kissing, the next you're disappearing."

Sam had listened until they got too far down the hall before he pulled out his phone and dialed his brother's number. "Yeah, hey. So… I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but Ana appeared back in the bunker acting weird and the next thing I know Connor's here too. Now they're fighting."

"When did Ana leave?" Dean asked from the other end of the line, the faint sound of the Impala's engine carrying over with his voice.

"Not long after you did." Sam sighed, "That's not the point, Dean. They're fighting, I have no idea what about, and I'm honestly not going to deal with it. So man up and come figure out what's going on with your daughter and her boyfriend."

Dean bit back a swear, " _Ex-_ boyfriend and that is none of my business. As long as it doesn't come to a fist fight, I really think she can handle this one, but I'm on my way back anyway. I'll see you in a few."

With a shake of his head, Sam stood from the table and tucked his phone into the pocket of his jeans. He wasn't going to wait around to see what was going to come out of whatever the two were arguing about and since Dean didn't really seem to care, Sam would have to do something about it himself. As he made his way down the hall toward Ana's bedroom, the closer he got the louder the sound of their voices became.

"That's not the point, Ana! It's not that you did one thing or the other, it's that you did both. You kissed me back and then left, leaving me on the sidewalk outside of Will's bar completely confused." Connor sounded exasperated.

Ana spun to look at the man leaning against the frame of her door, "There's nothing I can even say about that! We haven't seen each other in two months and the first time we _do_ see each other all you can say is 'hi' and kiss me? What the hell was that?"

Connor shook his head, "Yeah, it's been two months, so what?! I have missed you so much and I couldn't help myself when you were standing in front of me. You were just standing there with your freaking beautiful green eyes and I couldn't _not_ kiss you!"

 _Are they literally just arguing over a kiss?_ Sam asked himself as he came up on the room, _I'm going to lose it if Dean doesn't show up soon to deal with this._ A hand rested on his shoulder just as he was about to step into the argument, causing him to stop and look behind him to see Gabriel with that damn mischievous look in his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Sam questioned softly, directing the short man back down the hall a little ways so Connor and Ana didn't know they were there.

"This fight is gold, neither of them has any idea what's going on and I couldn't let you stop it." Gabe explained, "Plus, if this is what brings them back together in one place, so be it."

Sam gave the small angel a confused look, "Why does it matter if they're in the same place? He's finished training her, I thought after that they could be separated without something accidentally going wrong?"

"Oh, Samsquatch, there's so much you don't know." The archangel grinned.

Before either man could say anything more the yelling at the other end of the hall grew louder, "You're the one who pointed out that long distance would be hard! If I remember correctly, you specifically stated that you _didn't_ want to continue dating since we would be so far apart. Even though we can both freaking teleport!" Ana's temper was getting the best of her.

"Woah." Came Dean's soft voice to the side of Sam and Gabriel as he walked to join the two men, "How long has this been going on?"

Sam shrugged, "About ten minutes and it only seems to be getting louder."

Dean glanced down the hall at Ana's open door, "Why haven't either of you tried to stop it?" he pulled his focus back on the men standing in front of him, giving them each a questioning look.

"Well, I was about to when Gabriel popped up and started talking about how this 'argument is gold'." Sam explained, glaring down at the archangel. "Now answer my question, why does it matter if they're in the same place?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes and scoffed at both brothers, "Neither of you are very fun, you know that, right?" when the Winchesters just continued to glare at him, the archangel sighed, "Destiny, guys! Fate. What's meant to be will be." he made a gesture with his hands, showing that he was waiting for them to make the connection.

Yelling came from down the hall again, "You can't keep me here!" Ana stated, her voice only growing louder with her anger.

"I couldn't even if I tried! You and I both know that your power is stronger than mine." Connor told her, "Though I should thank whoever is doing it, because you can't run away every time you don't want to talk about something!"

"What are you trying to say Gabriel?" Dean asked, eyes flicking down the hall.

There was a loud, aggravated grunt from Ana's room, "There is nothing left for us to talk about. God dammit, why can't I teleport?" the angry girl swore as she rounded the corner to see the three men standing just down the hall, "Gabriel, are you keeping me here?"

Connor followed behind Ana and looked over her family that stood just a ways away from them, "How long have you three been standing there listening to us argue?" he added his own question.

"Oh, Princess, of course I'm keeping you here. Now go back to your room, the grown ups are talking." Gabriel answered Ana with a cheeky grin.

Ana's eyes went wide at his comment, "I'm going to kill him." she muttered and started walking toward the angel, but Connor was quick to move. He wrapped his arms around her middle and pulled her off of her feet. "Put me down! First he messes with my magic, then he goes and makes the dumbest comment I have ever heard. Let me kill him!" she fought against Connor's hold.

"Yeah, not gonna happen. Why don't we just finish our little talk since we're stuck here anyway." Connor carried her back into her room and shut the door.

"Just call me Dr. Phil." Gabriel turned to look at Sam and Dean who didn't look any more pleased with him than Ana had.

Dean shook his head and rubbed a hand over his face, "Start talking, Gabe."

"Soulmates, you imbeciles, they're soulmates!" Gabriel heaved a sigh, sometimes he wondered how either of the men in front of him were still alive.

Dean dropped his hand and studied the Trickster for a moment before turning to look at Sam, who had a shocked expression on his face, which Dean assumed was a mirror of his own, "Connor and Ana?" Dean questioned.

Gabriel face palmed, "No, the other arguing couple in the bunker… Yes, Connor and Ana!"

"Soulmates?" Sam confirmed, "Like, Cupid's arrow, God willed soulmates?"

"Why?" Dean demanded.

"Why? For the same reason your parents were put together, some sort of magical prophecy. You two were supposed to help bring around the apocalypse. Those two fall in love, concur great evil, and then spawn the world's next big protector." Gabriel gave them a shrug.

The only thing Dean was focused on out of Gabriel's explanation was the _spawn_ part. "What?! No way is my daughter _spawning_ anything!"

Sam was silent, processing the new information, but the angel must have thought that what his brother had said was amusing because he was chuckling, "You think you can stop it, Dean-o? She probably would have had kids at some point, even without having a soulmate. Doesn't it make your Winchester heart all warm and fuzzy knowing that your grandchild is going to follow in the family's footsteps?"

"I feel like we walked into this conversation at the completely wrong time." Ana commented, staring wide eyed at the men in front of her that had fallen silent. The three had been so focused on talking about Ana and Connor being soulmates that none of them realized that the yelling hadn't picked up since the two had gone back into Ana's room. They had also missed the opening of her door and the two in question stepping back into the hallway.

"How much did you hear?" Sam asked, seeming to be the only one who's mouth was functioning.

"Oh, you know, just that I'm apparently supposed to give birth to Earth's next hero!" Ana snapped, "Wait, I'm not pregnant now am I? This isn't some weird immaculate conception type deal, is it?" her question was aimed at Gabriel, seeing as how the angel seemed to be the one with answers.

Gabriel smirked and shook his head, "You are not exactly immaculate my dear, but no, you're not pregnant. It won't happen for a few years, so don't worry about it." he assured her.

Dean made a gagging sound, "Okay, this is officially too weird for me." he stated before turning around and heading back down the hall toward the library.

"Yeah, it's too weird for him, pay no mind to the person we're actually discussing here." Ana shook her head and turned her attention back to Gabriel, "So why were you discussing me and my apparent unconceived child?"

Gabriel shrugged, "Just sharing secrets." and with that he disappeared.

"Are you kidding me, Gabriel?" Ana snapped.

Sam's phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out, shaking his head at the name on the screen, "So you disappear to avoid questioning, but then call me?"

"Just to warn you." Gabriel assured him from the other end of the line, "You can't tell either of them about the soulmate thing. They have to go through it all blind, so you and Dean need to keep your mouths shut." the archangel warned him before hanging up.

"What was that about?" Ana asked, raising an eyebrow at her uncle. She understood that things could get a little weird with Gabriel around, she had seen what he had done to her family with the TV show thing, but this seemed to be a different kind of weird.

Sam looked at his niece, thinking about how keeping this particular secret from her wasn't going to be easy, hopefully the two witches figured it out soon. "Uh.. nothing. Just Gabe being, well… Gabe." he shrugged and turned in the same direction his brother had gone not long before.

Ana looked over her shoulder at Connor, "So, it's not just me, right? They're all being weird?"

"Yeah, they're being weird, but we haven't finished our discussion." He pointed out, his eyes focused on her's.

"I'm not sure you can call what just happened a _discussion_ , but you're right, it's unfinished." She turned and walked back to her bedroom. No part of her wanted to continue their fight and hopefully it wouldn't turn back into one, but their breakup was still a sore subject for her. When they were back behind the closed door of her room, Ana sat down on the bed and Connor moved her desk chair so he could sit in front of her. Neither of them said anything for a while and it slowly became clear to her that he was waiting for her to speak first. "I just don't get it, Connor. You say you miss me, but you're the reason we decided to end it. I'm not saying I didn't agree with you, but _you_ were the one to insist that long distance wouldn't work."

Connor sighed and placed his head in his hands, elbows resting on his legs, "I should have explained it then or maybe even months before, but…" he trailed of, this topic was something he didn't like to talk about. "The last relationship I was in ended… badly. We were eighteen, she went off to college and I stayed in New Orleans. Long story short, she cheated on me, with a large portion of the football team apparently. I wanted to surprise her one night and teleported to her room… to find her in bed with another guy."

"And you were worried that the same thing would happen." Ana concluded. She understood the fear of being cheated on, but she had tried so hard to not let it affect her relationship with Connor.

He nodded and dropped his hands, looking into her eyes, "I trust you, Ana, there's no way I couldn't with what we've been through, but that fear was too real."

"I can't say that I don't understand, but you should have known that I wouldn't do anything like that to you." She sighed, "Connor, I wouldn't hurt you like that."

The male witch nodded, "I've always known that, but… I don't know." he stood up suddenly and paced toward the door, "I still worried that something would happen." Turning back around to look at her, he quickly moved over to the bed and sat down by her side. Connor took her hand in his and looked her in the eye, "There's nothing for me to worry about being with you, I fully understand that now and I've missed you so damn much. I'd like to try this again, we can make you going to school and me working at the bar work." his eyes were pleading with her.

"First of all, I'm dropping out of school." Ana told him, having come to the decision a few days ago, but not having acted on it yet. Slowly, she pulled her hand away from his and stood up, "Secondly, I need some time to think about all of this, okay? I just started hunting and I'm not willing to put you in danger because you _think_ we can make this work."

Connor's expression fell, sadness taking over momentarily before the rest of her words sunk in, "Wait, you're dropping out of school? You were so excited to go! And what's this about you hunting now?" he questioned, now confused.

"Oh, please don't start this. I've already gotten in an argument with my dad about it, I really don't need to hear it from you too." Ana moved toward her door, hoping that he would drop it if she walked away.

Connor stood and followed her, "So your dad didn't know? Does that mean you've been hunting alone?" he followed after her and when she didn't respond, he walked faster until he could wrap a hand around her arm, "Ana, that's dangerous."

"God, what is with you two." She gestured between her father and Connor as they entered the library. "I have crazy amounts of power literally at my fingertips. I take on a few hunts alone and it's the end of the world?"

"Then explained how you showed up here last night, half dead, and still fighting off a werewolf?" Dean demanded from his seat at the table.

Connor's eyes took on a stern glint as he looked over the woman standing in front of him, "Do you have a death wish? It's not even the right lunar cycle, so you were up against a pure blood and you knew that! What were you thinking?!"

"I was thinking that I could save someone's life! Not only was that guy a monster but he had some serious problems otherwise, the things I saw him do in my vision." She shuttered at the thought, "So instead of letting that come true, I stopped it. I'm so tired of repeating myself!" She glared between Dean and Connor, not bothering to include Sam since he didn't seem to argue with her reasoning, "I'm going to hunt, that's all there is to it and you guys can either deal with it or shut the hell up."

"You may think you're big and bad because you're a witch, but I'm still your father and you will watch your mouth around me." Dean reminded her sternly.

Ana threw her hands in the air, "There's just no winning." Between dealing with the fight her hunting had caused, whatever was going on between her and Connor, and Dean deciding that this was the right time to go full blown parent mode, she had enough stress to deal with at one time. "I'm leaving." She stated, as she stalked off toward the hall.

"What is up with her?" Connor questioned, turning to look at Dean and Sam, "She's acting weird."

Sam shrugged, her attitude did seem different but she wasn't talking so he had no idea. Dean shook his head, "We have no idea. Why don't you try to get her to talk, Romeo?" He suggested, hoping that Connor could get through to his daughter.

Choosing to ignore Dean's newest nickname, Connor turned and followed after Ana, hoping that she hadn't already left to wherever she was going. He checked her room first and though she wasn't there he was able to sense the residual magic from her teleporting. Closing his eyes he focused on the magic in the room and opened his mind so he could pinpoint her location. The effect from the spell they did when they went up against Valac was still there, even if he hadn't used it in months. It didn't take long for him to find her and when he teleported to her side, they were standing near the edge of a cliff he recognized. "You only come here when something is really bothering you." He commented.

"I should have known you'd follow me." Ana muttered, pushing her hair out of her face but the persistent wind blew it back.

"I'm worried about you, so are your dad and Sam." He told her, trying to carefully approach the subject so she didn't close up, "What's going on, Ana?"

There were a few minutes where she didn't say anything, trying to process her own thoughts so she could explain it to him right. "My roommate and I were at a party one night. It was a good time and she was dancing with this guy, Ethan… We decided to go outside and get some fresh air, started talking to a group of people in our class, next thing I know Ethan's led her off around the side of the building." she shook her head and brushed a hand through her hair, "She kept telling him no and if I hadn't gotten there in time he would've…" Ana trailed off, not being able to say it. "I sent Grace away, Ethan and I started fighting, he was talking just like Brandon."

Connor watched as she began to shake slightly, this had obviously been upsetting her for a while and he wondered why she hadn't talked to anyone about it. "Brandon?" he questioned, not remembering the name ever coming up in any of their conversations.

With a nod, she turned to look at him, "The burn scars." was all she said as an explanation before she dropped her eyes again. "When I finally got the upper hand on Ethan it took every ounce of willpower in my body to not just keep beating on him. If Grace wouldn't have shown back up with a group of people from the party, I probably wouldn't have stopped."

Seeing her so bothered by what happened made his heart ache and he hated that she seemed so broken up about it. Moving to stand in front of her, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug, "Is that part of the reason you started hunting?"

Ana nodded against his chest, keeping her face hidden there, "In true Winchester fashion, I decided that by not talking about my problems and putting my focus elsewhere that everything would be fixed."

"Well, now that you've seen that it doesn't work like that, are you ready to talk?" Connor placed a gentle finger under her chin and lifted her head so she was looking up at him, "You know you can talk to my about anything." He watched her close her eyes and shake her head, burying her face back in his chest. "You know you did the right thing in helping Grace and just because you _may have_ not stopped hurting that guy, doesn't mean that you're bad or evil. That's part of the problem isn't it? You haven't stopped worrying about the possibility of you going bad?" It had been a topic of discussion through most of their relationship and he knew that it was something she wasn't easily going to get over.

"I could have killed him, Connor. I have all of this power and all of this training, how easy would it be for me to kill a human?" Ana demanded as she pushed herself away from him, "All I saw was red and I almost didn't stop."

The male witch sighed and watched her carefully, "Do you remember what you told us you wanted to go to school for? Your first instinct, even before all of this witch and hunter stuff happened, was to help people. Christ, Ana, you had plans for being a doctor or a nurse, your healing magic is stronger than almost any I've seen before… What is it going to take for you to understand that no matter what happens, nothing can take the good out of you?"

Ana spun on him, red hair being pulled back by the wind as it picked up, her green eyes filled with hurt and sadness, "You can't know that! No one can know that!" Her voice cracked as she talked, her attempt to hold back her emotions failing, "There are so many possibilities in this world, so many things I've seen and no one can know for certain what's going to happen next or what's going to come out of any of this. I could kill you right now and just not stop, I could become the kind of thing that my family hunts and then they would have to put me down!"

"That's not going to happen, I don't care what you've seen about the future, but I know for a fact that you becoming evil will not happen." Connor argued back, wishing that for once she would believe him.

Three quick steps closed the distance between them and Ana glared up at him, "How can you be so sure?" she questioned, her tone stern and demanding truth.

His blue eyes focused on the green ones staring at him, the stubbornness in those emerald pools making him want nothing more than to make her realize how wrong she was, "Because I won't let it." If his words weren't enough to convince her then the kiss that came shortly after made up for any of the room left for doubt.

With Connor's hands cupped on both sides of Ana's face, the wind whipping around them and the gloomy, cloud filled sky above them, it was almost a scene out of a moody, fantasy teen movie. The only difference being that one of them wasn't an unsuspecting human walking into trouble by falling for the supernatural being who was trying to keep them separated, but failing. Gabriel felt the need to gag as he watched from a short distance away from the couple, invisible to their eyes and senses. After he left the bunker he didn't go far, wanting to stay close just in case something like this happened. The archangel wasn't used to spending his time watching over certain people, but with what was to come he knew that he needed to be there to nudge these two together. There was evil in the air, all of the angels could sense it and it had most of Heaven on edge. No one knew for sure what it was, but there were rumours circulating and the most popular one was something Gabriel wanted to be extremely prepared for. Though whenever something was going wrong, it seemed that it was the go to rumour… _the cage, Lucifer, and Michael_ … Would it open? What would happen once their brothers were set free? Is the apocalypse still on the table? He didn't know the answers to any of that, but if the cage could be opened, there was no way the world was prepared for whatever his big brothers had in store.

 _A/N: Cliff hanger! I'm almost not sorry because it's been a couple of chapters since there's been some big evil and I'm ready to get this next battle rolling. Let me know what you think! Is something out in the world trying to release Mikey and Luci from the cage? Maybe there isn't and the next evil is something not even Gabriel is prepared for! Who knows?! Oh, wait, I do! *insert evil laughter* Also, who wants to know about what the heck is up with the prophecy involving Ana and Connor? As always HUGE THANK YOU's to my faithful followers and those who are new, you guys are the reason I keep writing. :) Hope you enjoyed it!_


	27. Chapter 27

_A/N: Hey guys! So I know I've been giving shorter chapters lately, this one's a bit longer so hopefully that makes some of you happy :) For the sake of this chapter and the story in general, the scenario in 9.12 "Sharp Teeth" has already happened, (in which Garth has been changed into a werewolf) even though a lot of what's going on in the plot of this doesn't go that far into what happened season nine. It's been awhile since I've heard from you guys, let me know what you're thinking! I love your opinions! Hope you enjoy this next chapter :)_

Ana and Connor stayed on the cliff for a while longer, talking about what they had missed in the time they were apart, delving back into the easy friendship they had at the beginning. Neither of them brought up what would happen with their dating relationship, there was a quiet understanding between them that it was something they could discuss later.

When they teleported back to the bunker, Dean and Sam had a couple of bags on the table in the library, each man checking what was already packed as the couple walked into the room. Seeing the duffles out Ana quickly made the conclusion that they had found a hunt, but with how many books Sam was shoving into a duffle they rarely used, she knew something was different about this one. "What's going on guys?" she questioned, peaking into the duffle full of assorted weapons as she passed it to sit down.

"Garth called, there's something big going down at the Devil's Gate in Wyoming. We've been keeping eyes on it for a few days and there's a lot of action in the area." Dean explained, looking between Connor and Ana, noticing that they seemed to be acting friendlier toward each other.

Ana looked back and forth between her father and uncle, "I thought that Devil's Gate could only be opened with the Colt and didn't that go MIA a few years back?"

Sam nodded, "You're right, but we still need to check this out." he double checked what he had packed in the duffle of books before zipping it closed.

"I'll come with." Ana offered, if something was trying to open a gate to Hell, she wanted to do whatever she could to make sure it didn't happen.

Dean gave her a pointed look before he went back to organizing the weapons in his duffle, "I think the three of us can handle this one, Ana, why don't you just take some time and hang out here?"

"Three of you?" She questioned, "Garth is going to be there?! I'm not sitting back on this one, dad, come on! Let me meet Garth and help out."

Dean exchanged a look with Sam and they seemed to be doing their silent communication thing before Dean turned back to look at his daughter, "Fine, you can come with, but we call the shots. Alright? You're told to do something and there will be no argument."

Ana's brow furrowed, "Okay, I get why you want that rule to be a thing, but I'm not inexperienced. I'm not saying that I won't listen when you suggest something, but I'm also not going to be ordered around. I'm a big girl now. I have my powers under control and I'm a quick thinker, add that on top of me being able to instantly get us out of a dangerous situation and heal any wounds, I would say that qualifies me to make my own decisions."

"She does have a point, Dean." Sam agreed, "Obviously we're not going to let her run around and make the decisions, but if she's going to be hunting without us, might as well give her some say in what we're doing when she _does_ hunt with us."

The older brother scowled, he did not like the idea, but he also realized that if Ana was going to hunt he prefered her to do it under the watchful and protective eyes of her family, "Fine, but I retain the power to instantly veto any idea that I deem stupid, deal?"

"Well look at you and your fancy vocabulary." Ana teased with a grin but when she received a glare in return, she simply nodded, "I can live with that." She was thankful that they were letting her go at all, whenever they were out against something that had the possibility of being nastier than the general monsters all she did was worry. Being there would keep her from worrying and learn a thing or two on the job with her family.

"Alright, go get packed, we're leaving soon." Dean instructed, "What about you?" he questioned, turning to look at Connor, "Are you going to insist on coming along too?" It had been awhile since they had seen him and honestly it had been weird at first to not have him or Ana there.

Connor shook his head, "Nah, I'll let you guys handle this one, I've got work at the bar lined up this week. Let me know if I can help with anything though." he told Dean before looking to Ana, "You be careful out there, alright? Don't try to be a hero and please listen to your dad and uncle."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll be a good kid." She assured him with a smile, "Tell everyone I say hi. I'll keep you updated on things." With a nod, Connor pulled her into a hug and gave her a light kiss on the cheek before teleporting away. "I'll need to pop into my dorm room real quick, I don't have much stuff here and almost all of my supplies are there. Be back in a flash." she told her dad with a grin before disappearing as well.

Dean sighed and shook his head, "So, what? Are they back together now?" he wondered out loud, hoping that Sam would have some insight on the subject.

Sam shrugged, "I don't know, but by the way Gabriel made it sound they're going to end up back together eventually, anyway. Maybe you should prepare yourself for that."

"Yeah, right." Dean grumbled and zipped up the duffle with the assortment of weapons inside, "I'm going to go pack some clothes, you going to be ready to go by the time Ana gets back?"

The younger Winchester nodded, grabbing both duffle bags off of the table to take to the Impala. It was about a seven hour drive to Calvary Cemetery from the bunker and they planned on driving through the night so they could get started as soon as possible. Some hunts could wait a little longer than others, but when it was something to do with an opening to Hell they moved a lot quicker. Once the bags were situated in the trunk, Sam went to his room to throw some of his clothes in his bag, making sure he had enough to get him through at least a week before he'd have to do laundry. Sometimes they could be gone for weeks at a time and he hated doing laundry more than was necessary. Returning back to the library with his bag hooked over his shoulder he walked in on Dean and Ana mid conversation.

"We can get there faster if I just teleport the three of us." Ana repeated herself as she gave her father an exasperated look.

Dean shook his head, "It's not that long of a drive and you know how I feel about teleporting." he grumbled, one hand resting on his bag that sat on the table and his other pointed at his daughter's chest.

Ana shook her head and sighed, "Dad, it's not the same as what Cas and Gabe do with their flying. It won't kill you to bear through five seconds so we can start on this case faster."

"No. We're taking the Impala and you can deal with it. You don't like it, don't come with." Dean grabbed his bag and headed toward the garage, walking past his brother without saying another word.

After watching his brother walk past him, Sam turned to look at his niece who seemed to be slightly hurt by her father's stubbornness on the teleporting subject. "What's wrong?" he questioned, walking further into the library so they could talk without having to raise their voices.

"It's nothing." The young witch assured him as she grabbed her bag and pulled the strap on to her shoulder.

"No it's not. Ana, you've been dealing with a lot of stuff on your own, at least let me help with something." Sam wasn't the type to let his family suffer in silence, even if that did seem to be how both Dean and Ana liked to deal with their problems.

She shrugged, "I get that he doesn't like any form of supernatural transportation, but part of me just assumes it's because he's not entirely comfortable with the fact that I'm a witch." The worry had been something she had been dealing with since her powers began to surface. It was no big secret how much Dean disliked witches and though he understood that Ana and Connor weren't the hexing and killing innocent people type, she still feared that he wasn't okay with it.

"Oh, come on, Ana. You know that neither Dean or I have ever had a problem with you being a witch." Sam wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder, "It may have been a shock at first, but it was for you too. We love you, crazy witch powers and all, nothing is going to change that."

Dean cleared his throat from the opening to the library, he had gotten half way down the hall before turning around and heading back, "You two done with your chick flick moment?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"You know you want in on this, dad!" Ana opened her arms wide, "Come on, family group hug." she announced with a grin.

"Oh, hell no. If you aren't in the Impala in five minutes I'm leaving without you." He informed them before turning and heading back toward the garage, grumbling under his breath the whole way.

Ana and Sam laughed together for a moment, "Come on, let's go before he decides to leave us." Sam instructed, moving his arm so it was draped across her shoulders, using it to steer her toward the garage.

"I could always teleport us to the car you know." She informed him, a mischievous look forming in her eyes that would have made Gabriel proud. "I have an idea." the comment was barely out of her mouth before she was teleporting both of them into the garage, right next to the car. Quickly grabbing both of their bags, she shoved them into the trunk and signaled for Sam to get into the passenger seat as she climbed in the back. Just as they had settled the sound of a door opening brought their attention to Dean as he walked into the garage and toward the spot he always parked the Impala in, "God, dad, you're so slow!" Ana yelled after rolling down her window.

Dean froze when he heard her voice, his eyes landing on the two bodies inside of his car, "I hate you both, you know that?" he snapped as he continued to walk to the car.

Sam bit back a laugh as Dean threw his bag in the trunk, "You love us both." Ana corrected him once he was settled in the driver's seat, flashing him a cheeky grin through the rear view mirror. Frowning, Dean turned over the engine and turned the stereo up so loud that no one would be able to talk over it, a happy smirk settling in on his face as he pulled out of the bunker's garage.

-A-

It was just before eleven when they rolled into the nearest town to Calvary Cemetery. With a population just over seven hundred it wasn't surprising that the only form of lodging was a small bed and breakfast which, thankfully, wasn't too expensive and had enough vacant rooms to house the four hunters comfortably. Sam booked two rooms, each with two queen sized beds, and was heading back out to the Impala where he could see Dean talking on the phone and Ana in the backseat focused on the book in her hands. Dropping the key to one room in Dean's lap through his open window as he walked past, the younger Winchester moved on to the trunk to start grabbing their bags. The sound of one of the Impala's doors opening had him looking around the trunk lid and at his brother.

"That was Garth. He's about an hour out still." Dean explained, reaching in through the back window to pull the book out of his daughter's hands, "You gonna join the rest of us?" he asked her with a grin.

Ana rolled her eyes at her father and pushed the door open so it bumped into him. Once he was out of the way, she stepped out of the car and snatched the book back from his hands, "So we have time to kill. Research? What exactly are we working on?" she questioned as she moved to the trunk to grab her bag.

Making sure they grabbed everything they needed out of the trunk, Dean closed the lid and shrugged, "Honestly, we're not completely sure. As far as we're aware after the devil's trap had been put back in place at the cemetery, no one's been messing with it, but there's been some demon omens and signs of vampires and werewolves as well."

"Bodies from this town sucked dry and during the last lunar cycle there were at least three victims with missing hearts." Sam explained as they walked toward the old, two story plantation styled home that looked like it belonged in the South rather than a small, dumpy town in Wyoming.

"And we're just assuming that this has something to do with the gate, right?" She spoke softly as Sam led them to their rooms on the second floor.

Sam nodded, glancing back at her, "We think it's a safe bet. Normally when there's this much weird things in one town it's not a good sign."

"Yeah," Dean agreed, "Last time we came across something like this, we were dealing with Eve."

The name of the mother of monsters made a shiver run up Ana's spine, "So we're thinking this has the possibility of being something not just big, but big and world changing. World population turning into monsters, apocalypse, releasing even more demons on to the Earth; that sort of thing?"

"At this point it could be anything." Dean told her as they reached their rooms, "You're rooming with me, Sam can share with Garth." he told his daughter before turning his attention to his brother who stood across the hall at the door to the room he'd be in, "We'll get settled and then we can start research?"

Sam nodded, "Sure, I'll be over in a few." he assured Dean before closing the door and tossing his bag on the nearest bed, claiming it as his. He was aware that his brother knew he wouldn't need to 'get settled' so he figured that it was a que to give the father and daughter time to talk.

In the room across the hall Dean placed his bag on the bed closest to the door, it had been an unspoken rule that he would always take that one to be the first line of defense in the case that a threat came through the door. He watched as Ana set her bag on her bed and he steeled himself, knowing that the subject he was about to breach could have a negative reaction. "So, you ready to talk about whatever is going on with you?"

Turning to look at her dad, Ana sighed, "You mean the hunting?"

"Yeah. The hunting, the anger, whatever is going on between you and Connor." He offered up any of the subjects that had been plaguing his thoughts the whole seven hour trip.

"First of all there's nothing going on between Connor and I, not right now at least and if it does turn into something again, it's none of your business." She sat down on the corner of the bed and looked up at him, "The hunting was bound to happen, even you can't deny that."

Dean sat down across from her, elbows resting on his legs as he looked into her eyes, "Maybe I can't deny it, but you were so damn set on going to school and staying out of this whole mess. What changed?" The hand that brushed through her hair was the signal that told him this was going to take more coaxing to get out of her, he'd seen the action so many times that he knew in situations like this that it was because she was nervous about what she needed to say.

As her hand reached the edges of her hair, she played with the tips, dropping her gaze to the floor. It was one thing to talk about this problem with Connor, he had known how much it had bothered her and though she had been working through the problem, he was still aware that it was there. Her father on the other hand was a whole nother level, she hadn't brought it up to him since before Valac had been dealt with.

"Come on, Ana, talk to me." He reached over and placed a comforting hand on her knee, "Something changed your mind for this to be so sudden and I want to understand where you're coming from."

The touch caused her gaze to shift from the floor to Dean's eyes and she sucked in a deep breath, "It was the fight with Ethan." she started, pausing to make sure he was following her train of thought, "There was a moment toward the end where I thought I wasn't going to be able to stop myself. I just... " she stood suddenly, trying to clearly process the feelings running through her to explain them to her father, "I could have killed him… probably would have. He reminded me so much of Brandon and I wanted nothing more than to watch the life drain from his eyes. I have the power to do it too, that's the worst part. I'm strong, even without my magic, you and Sam taught me so well that I could kill a person with just my hands." She shook her head, red hair flying as she moved over to the window to look outside, "After that all I could think about was ending up like Charlotte, going evil and killing people without a second thought."

"You're not going to go evil, Ana. I thought we were over this a long time ago." Dean stood up and rubbed a hand over his face. How could she still be thinking about going dark side after all of the good she had done.

"We can't know that for sure!" She argued, turning to look at him with a defeated look in her eyes, "I almost didn't stop, dad!"

Walking over to her, Dean placed a hand on her shoulder, "But you did, that's the deciding factor here. You and I both know that you have the power to erase memories or alter them, if there were witnesses you could have dealt with them. In addition to that, _if_ you were even slightly evil, you wouldn't care about who was watching because you probably would have killed them too." His voice was stern, trying to get some reason in his daughter's stubborn head. "Do you honestly think that if there was even the chance of something like that happening that I would have let you leave the bunker without a fight? If there was even the tiniest hint of evil in you, do you think Gabriel would have stashed his grace in you, free for you to possibly take control over and wreak havoc with?" Using his free hand, Dean gently touched her cheek and then pulled her into a hug, "The only thing that caused the murderous reaction was a traumatic experience and the Winchester blood in your veins, you got that?" He felt her nod her head and wrap her arms around him, returning his embrace. It was moments like this that made him wish he would have been present in her life earlier, he wondered what it would have felt like to have five or six year old Ana's arms around him, but since he would never know Dean would have to be thankful for the few embraces he got with her now.

"And you give Sam and I grief for our chick flick moments." Ana teased as she slowly pulled away from her dad.

He scoffed and ruffled her hair, earning the scowl that he had expected, "You two ladies have more emotions than I will ever comprehend, so don't expect this to happen often, alright? I'm just glad you finally talked to me." he turned away from her to take off his jacket, "Next time something is bothering you like that, you come talk to me alright? Remember, no more numb, we talk this out."

She nodded, turning to look back at the window as she remember their first heart to heart, "I haven't tried anything like that since the night with the whiskey." she informed him, voice soft, "I've had a couple of drinks here and there, but I haven't even thought about going numb."

Dean had been walking toward the door when she first spoke, but he stopped once the words were out of her mouth. Turning slowly he looked at her, eyes meeting her back, "That's really good, Ana." he praised her, tone obviously proud, but before he could say anything else there was a knock at the door. Moving to open the door he looked at his little brother and gave him a small nod as he moved to let Sam in, "So where should we start with all of this?" he offered up the subject of their hunt, looking back and forth between Sam and Ana, "You two are the brains of the three of us, starting brain-ing." the questioning look on his face as he contemplated the last word drew a small laugh from his daughter.

"Don't act like there's no brain in that head of yours, you don't need us to do all of the thinking for you." Ana told him, moving away from the window and giving her uncle a smile as she moved to dig through her bag.

Sam noticed the small change in attitude in his niece and was thankful that whatever the two had talked about made some sort of difference, "With something like this, there's no telling where we need to start. Between the signs of demons, vampires, and werewolves… this is just a whole nother level of weird that we've never tried to tackle before."

Ana nodded as she pulled a smaller velvet bag out of her duffle, "Dad you mentioned Eve earlier and it got me thinking… is there a possibility that this is another Jefferson Starship type thing? Obviously not created by Eve, you two took care of that bitch, but I've never heard of demons, vamps, and werewolves working together or even being in the same place, especially in a town this small."

Dean and Sam exchanged a look, each contemplating what Ana was thinking, "I don't think so." Dean shook his head, "As far as we know Eve was the only thing able to wrap more than one monster into the same body, so I think it's a safe bet to say no. Though those Jefferson Starships were pretty awesome, even if they were hell to kill."

"Really, Dean?" Sam questioned, wondering how his brother's mind worked. Without waiting for an answer, he turned his attention back to his niece, "Though I don't agree that they were _awesome,_ " he gave Dean a pointed look, "I do think he's right, I've never come across anything else able to do what Eve could."

"So logically if it's not a Eve level thing, then… the three different species are working together?" Ana questioned, shaking her head, it didn't seem like something that would happen to her. "But why? They normally veer away from each other don't they?"

Sam held up the laptop he had in his hand, "We'll just have to see what we come up with, maybe Garth will have an idea when he gets here."

Ana nodded, grabbing her own laptop and holding it out toward Dean. "What do you want me to do with this?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Research." She instructed as if it were obvious, which it was.

The older Winchester rolled his eyes, "Really Captain Obvious? And what are you going to be doing while the two of us research?"

Lifting up the large velvet bag in her hand, she turned to face the bed, "Remember the spell that Connor used to find that vampire nest in Montana?" she moved her duffle out of her way and then set down the bag in her hand, "Same concept, except without the gross black sludge mixture he used." she explained, pulling a bunch of stuff out of the bag. "I need to grab a map. I think I saw some in the lobby area, be right back." with a quick smile to the men in the room she moved toward the door and out of the room.

"She seems like she's in a better mood." Sam commented as he moved to sit down at the small table in the room.

Dean nodded, walking toward an old looking rocking chair, "Yeah, apparently when she had that fight with Ethan she felt like killing the guy, which I would have too, but it threw her through a loop. The whole wicked witch thing." he shook his head as he sat down and opened his daughter's laptop.

"But you got it all taken care of?" Sam questioned, not opening his own laptop yet, all of his focus on his brother.

Flicking his gaze up from the computer screen, Dean shrugged, "I think so. She seems to be acting more like herself, less edgy."

Sam nodded, getting the message that his brother really didn't want to talk about the subject, but it also seemed that he was happy with the outcome. "So, should we run this like a normal case? Coroner's reports and dead bodies?"

"Sounds like our best shot." Dean offered, fingers quickly moving over the keyboard as he began to dig for information via the internet.

Not long after the silence fell between the brothers Ana came back into the room, map in hand and a smile on her face, "That old lady behind the counter is a little off her rocker." she commented as she moved back over to the bed. Opening up the map she laid it down flat over the bed and began to mix things in the brass bowl she carried with the rest of her supplies. She worked completely from memory at this point, muttering a few words as she stirred the bowl without a utensil, using only her powers. With a snap of her fingers, the content of the bowl was lit on fire and she watched as the herbs and flowers were turned to ash. A wave of her hand over the bowl stopped the fire and she knelt next to the bed, softly speaking the spell as she slowly poured the ash on to the map.

Sam and Dean had their eyes glued to her the entire time, both somewhat taken back by how easy it seemed to come to her when they had watched some of her spells go extremely wrong at the beginning of her lessons. "It looks like a giant pile of ash." Dean commented with a little bit of skepticism as he stood and walked over toward the bed.

Ana shook her head slightly and rolled her eyes, but she didn't speak. After taking in a deep breath, she pressed her lips together in an 'O' shape before slowly letting the breath out, blowing the ash across the map. By the time she was done there was only one little spot of ash left on the map, "That's impossible." she muttered, standing up and scowling down at the map.

"What's impossible?" Sam questioned, worried by the look on her face.

"The only sign of anything nonhuman in the area is me." She pointed to the small pile of ash on the map where the bed and breakfast was at. "It's saying that there's nothing else here."

Dean's brow furrowed, "So what, they all just up and disappeared?"

Ana shook her head, "Hold on, let me try something." she muttered before waving both hands over her bed, collecting the ash in the air above the map and speaking a different spell that sounded similar to the first. As the spell went into effect, the ash moved in the air, migrating until there were three levels of the stuff hovering above the map. "There is something seriously weird going on here."

"Yeah and the crazy magic you're working right now isn't one of them." Dean told her sarcastically.

Choosing to ignore his comment, Ana turned to explain what the spell was showing her. "So these levels are the past three hours. The map itself is showing right now, which is just me in a five mile radius of the town, but then we look here," she pointed to the level hovering just above the map, "and there are four different locations of monsters. Two hours ago, it looks like there were six. Three hours ago there were nine."

Sam studied the map and the ash above it as his niece explained, "How is it even possible to see what was here hours ago?" he questioned, surprised that a spell like this one was in existence.

"Residual energy." Ana told him, "Up to about five hours you can get a clear reading on an energy left behind, six or seven if the being is powerful enough. This is actually clearer than others I've done, which means that each location housed at least four or five monsters of whatever kind."

Dean pushed away other sarcastic comments and focused on the information the spell was giving them. As he looked over the hovering ash, his brow creased in the middle, "Why is this little pile thingy taller than the others?" he questioned, point out the pile that looked more like a spike than a mountain.

Ana frowned, glancing up at her dad and her uncle as they looked over her work, "It's not good, guys. Whatever was there an hour ago is more powerful than the rest of what's here." she told them, causing both sets of eyes to focus on her.

"How much more powerful?" Dean questioned, "If these are your run of the mill monsters and demons, then what is so powerful that it caused something like that?"

"My guess?" Ana shrugged, "Upper level demon, an angel maybe. Other options are centuries old witch, which honestly I doubt, an alpha, which you guys got rid of most, right?" When she received nods, she shrugged, "That about sums it up. Pagan god could also give off a reading like that, but it'd have to be higher level. Odin, Zeus, Ra, Dagdha, possibly even Shiva or Vishnu."

Sam and Dean shared a look, "Well at least we can Zeus, Odin, and Shiva. We watched all of them die." Dean offered.

"But that still leaves our options pretty wide." Sam sighed and looked at the map again, "Whatever it is has to be powerful enough to either wipe out or transport a handful of other creatures at the same time."

Ana nodded in agreement, "Maybe we should get a hold of Cas or Gabe and see if they know anything about what's happening? I'm going to assume that if it has something to do with the devil's gate that the angels are going to know something."

Dean nodded, "I tried Cas' phone but got no response, maybe you should try your winged buddy and see if you get something." he gave her a pointed look, not entirely on good terms with Gabriel yet. The sound of a guitar riff came from his pocket, the beginning of his ringtone signaling the call coming in. Pulling the phone out of his pants, he put it to his ear, "Hello?" there was a pause, "Uh, yeah. Second floor, first door on the left is you and Sam, we're just across the hall."

"Garth?" Ana asked excitedly once her father had hung up his phone.

"Yes, but why are you so excited to meet him? You were the same way about Charlie too." Dean looked genuinely perplexed by his daughter's reactions to his friends.

The girl looked back and forth between the men in front of her, "I've literally seen the majority of the interactions you've had with these people. I know what parts they play in your life, I see how each of their personalities affects both of you, how when in a time where you needed love and companionship outside of each other they were there. Can you blame me for wanting to meet these people?" she gave them a minute to see if they would respond, but when it looked like the brothers were contemplating her words, Ana just shook her head. "These people are your family and with how many you've lost over the years… I'm just glad to meet the ones who are still around. Though, in a slightly weird and possibly dark way, I think it's best that Jo and I never met. Could you imagine the trouble we'd get into together." she teased her dad with a soft smile, hoping he didn't take offense to her words. In her own way, Ana had grieved the loss of each of their friends and family, she had watched their deaths happen and each of them had broken her heart.

There was a knock at the door ceasing any response either Sam or Dean could give. Dean being closest to the door turned to answer it and moved out of the way to let Garth enter, "Hey guys." the smaller man greeted with a grin as he walked into the room, taking in the brothers before his eyes landed on Ana. "Little Winchester?"

Ana laughed softly, "I guess that's true in more than one way, but most people just call me Ana." she extended her hand, "It's nice to finally meet you."

Garth glanced down at her hand and then back up at her, shooting her a soft smile before opening his arms and wrapping her in a hug, "It's good to meet you, Ana." he tells her, eyes landing on what looked to be dust floating above a map on the bed behind her. "So. Witch, huh?" he questioned as she let her go from his embrace.

"So. Werewolf, huh?" She countered, watching as he walked over to the bed, his gaze focused on her spell.

"Touche." He offered, though his voice seemed distracted. "What's this showing exactly?"

Walking over to the side of the bed, Ana began to explain for the second time what the map and the spell were indicating. "So whatever was just outside of town an hour ago is powerful enough to either wipe out these others completely or transport them out." she finished, glancing up at Sam, "What's bothering me is why would it, whatever it actually is, remove these others from the town? Mass destruction for, what'd you say, a week and then up and vanish?" she shook her head, "This doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe they were killed?" Sam offered, "It wouldn't be the first time we've seen something big and bad use a weaker species to do the dirty work, then once it was done killed them off."

Dean nodded, "So our next move should be to check out the last places shown on the map and see if there are any bodies." he decided as he walked across the room to grab his jacket and pull it back on.

"Split up?" Ana questioned, "We should check all of nine of the locations and doing that all together is going to take up too much time." A thought seemed to strike her and she turned her attention to Garth, "You have anything against teleporting?"

Garth gave her a questioning look before turning to look at Dean, "Man, your kid can teleport? That's awesome!"

Dean just rolled his eyes and looked at Ana, "You got a plan forming in that incredibly stubborn head of yours?"

"Neither you or Sam are fans of the transportation form I'm fond of, so why don't you guys take the Impala and check out the three closest to here? Garth and I can check out the six that are further away, which won't be much more work because I can get us to each place literally in the blink of an eye."

"And what do you plan on doing if this is some sort of trap?" Dean questioned, "Say these things aren't dead and you appear in the first location then get ambushed, you two going to take an ambush down on your own?"

Garth and Ana shared a look, "Werewolf." "Witch." They spoke at the same time, giving the other an approving look before turning their attention back to Dean. "Look, dad, if something like that happens and there's no chance of us handling it ourselves, I'll teleport us out of there."

"What if the big and powerful is an angel? Gabriel was able to keep you trapped in the bunker, who's to say that whatever it is won't be able to do the same?" Sam questioned, now that there was an actual threat of danger he was becoming worried for his niece.

"Unless whatever we're dealing with is Michael or Lucifer, then not even an angel will be able to trap me." Ana told them, "Archangels are the only ones that have the power to trap me completely. Sure, Cas or someone similar could trap me for a short amount of time, but it wouldn't be long if I was fighting against it. I think it's a safe conclusion that we'll be alright, but we'll go completely armed just in case."

Dean thought on it a minute, there was always the chance that something could go bad and that was the main reason he didn't want her hunting in the first place, but when he thought back to how many hunts he had done alongside his father at the age of nineteen there wasn't much left to think on. "Fine, but neither of you split up and the moment something seems funky, you get the hell out of there."

Ana nodded, "We'll be fine dad." she assured him with a soft smile before turning to Garth, "Need to grab any weapons or are you already carrying?" Most hunters she knew rarely went anywhere without a small assortment of weaponry hidden on their person.

"I'm always prepared." Garth informed her, face falling serious. "I'll keep an eye on her, Dean, don't you worry."

"Give us a call if you find anything." Dean instructed, not really enjoying the plan they had set out before them, but Ana did have a point, it would be faster this way.

Turning her attention to Garth, she raised an eyebrow at him, "Ready? First time teleporting is a little disorientating, so be prepared for that." she warned, moving to stand a little closer to him. It wasn't necessary that she be touching whoever she was taking with her, but it made things a little bit easier. So when Garth nodded at her, she placed a hand on his shoulder and then they were gone from the room.

Sam turned to look at his older brother who was still staring at the spot his daughter and friend had been seconds before, "We should get started." He spoke softly, knowing that none of this was easy on him. Dean didn't speak, he just grabbed the car keys out of his pocket and turned to leave the room, knowing Sam was right behind him.


	28. Chapter 28

_A/N: Hello my lovely readers! GIANT HELLOS AND HUGS to those of you who are new, I'm glad you enjoy the story enough to deem it worthy of following. Quick note, the town in this story is completely fictional. I have been to the state of Wyoming on more than one account so I'm going to stick as close as I can to the feel of most of the cities and towns in the state, but it's not based on any other one place that I know exists, so bare with me. Also there is need of a_ _ **huge warning:**_ _there is talk of child abuse/minor torture in this chapter. It may get pretty graphic and I don't want to cause any problems for anyone! If you would like to skip that specific part, don't read after the_ _ **Meanwhile…**_ _break and you can pick the story up after the following_ -A- _break._

 _DracoPotter80: Your reviews always make me smile! In my head William is just this giant, teddy bear of a man and he will be popping up frequently in later chapters. Brandon is a guy from Ana's past, he's only been mentioned by name a couple of times but there is actually a section in this chapter that goes further into that. :) Thanks for the review._

"See I told you the second time wouldn't be as bad." Ana told Garth as they appeared in their second location, which happened to be a small, abandoned apartment building. The two story, four apartment structure was near the outskirts of town and it must have not done well tenant wise if the smell and emptiness of it was anything to go by, but with how small the town of Finch, Wyoming was it wasn't all that surprising. Her attention was focused on the small entryway the two nonhuman hunters were standing in, but when her eyes made their way around to look at Garth she was glad to see that he didn't look as shaken by this round of teleportation as he had the last one.

The older hunter was also looking around the building, taking in the dingy, white walls and the dust covered surfaces. "This one seems as empty as the last. You getting anything with your witch senses?" he questioned, adjusting the old trucker hat that sat on top of his head.

Ana shook her head, brushing a hand through her red hair as she continued to study the small space they were in. "I'm not sensing anything here at all. Let's do a quick sweep of the apartments and see if we find any signs of who or what was here." she offered, pulling her pistol out of the waste of her jeans.

"I'll take the two upstairs, you take the two down here. If you find anything, holler." Garth instructed as he pulled out his own weapon before making his way up the rather tall stairway.

Ana waited until he was at the top of the stairs before turning to the right, studying the door to the first apartment with calculating eyes. They had no idea what they would find here, if they found anything at all. The first location they had searched had been an old farm house about a mile out of town to the west, conspicuously located between Finch and Calvary Cemetery, but it had been empty as well. No sign of life or being lived in since the last owners must have died or moved out years prior. So to say the least, she was worried that if they did find something there it wouldn't be pretty. Taking in a deep breath she raised her pistol in her right hand and used her left to test the doorknob, finding it unlocked. With a quick shove, Ana opened the door and placed both hands tightly around the grip over her gun, ready to shoot down any attacker should one appear. Slowly walking into the small apartment, she checked in each room, behind every door, in any nook or cranny something or someone could be hidden, but there was nothing. The apartment was completely empty and though some of the dust that coated the counter tops had been disturbed by what seemed to be hands and other things, it was as if no one had been there since it had been closed down.

"Ana!" Garth's shout from the top of the stairs had her jogging out of the apartment, ready to protect her new friend and fellow hunter should he be in trouble. "You're going to want to see this." He told her from the top of the stairs, his firearm aimed at the ground, signaling there was no threat.

Lowering her pistol as she took the stairs two at a time, she was wondering what could have caused the shocked expression on the man's face, but when she walked into the open door of the apartment he directed her to there was no longer any question about it. Partially dried blood coated the walls and floors, the smell of death hung in the air and the feeling of the evil that clung to the room made the witch shiver. Taking her time to take everything in, she glanced over her shoulder at Garth, "Vampires?" she questioned, voicing the only thing that came to her mind.

"That was my first guess, but I don't think I've ever seen one be so messy." He answered, making a point to not enter the apartment again, but choosing instead to stand just on the other side of the door. "I haven't even gone into the other apartment." he added, looking across the hall at the closed door.

With a curt nod, Ana walked past him and opened the closed door, but after quick inspection there was no sign that anything had been there. "I only got through one downstairs, let's check out the other and then we'll call my dad and Sam to see if they found anything." Leading the way back downstairs, she raised her pistol again, taking precaution just like Sam and Dean had taught her, mentally preparing herself for what they might find in the last closed door. The sweep through the last apartment didn't take long with the two of them doing it together and when nothing turned up, the two hunters moved back into the entryway and Ana pulled out her phone, dialing her father's number.

"Hey, kid, find anything?" Dean asked, the sound of the Impala's engine could be heard through the phone and Ana assumed that meant they were on their way either to or from their first stop.

"If an entire apartment covered in blood is something, then yes, we definitely found something." Ana answered, her gaze flicking up to see Garth fidgeting nervously, "Other than that there's nothing here though. How're things on your end?"

There was a soft rustling sound and then Sam's voice filtered over the line, "The first place was a bust. It was just a small garage, but there was no sign of anything. What do you guys think about what you found?"

"Garth and I are both thinking vampires, but it's a lot of spilled blood for it to be a normal vamp attack. Something weird is going on here guys." While she was talking, she watched Garth become more and more agitated. "What is up with you?" she whispered at him, giving him a questioning look.

The older hunter shook his head, "Something doesn't feel right." he told her, glancing around the small room as if expecting an enemy to appear out of thin air.

"Something's going on with Garth, we're getting out of here." Instead of being met by either of the men's voice on the other end of the phone, she received silence. "Dad? Sam?" she questioned, wondering if their connection had been lost. Looking at her phone, it showed that the call had been lost, that her phone wasn't getting any reception. "What the hell?" She placed her phone back in her pocket and turned her attention to Garth who seemed to be reacting to whatever was going on in a bad way. "Alright, let's get out of here." As she grabbed his shoulder to teleport them out a rush of power filled the entire building in a way Ana didn't even know was possible.

"Ah, ah, ah, not so fast, Anastasia." The light female voice carried from the top of the stairs. "Don't try to leave, you won't be able to." A tall woman in a fitted, navy blue suit came around the corner at the top of the stairs, brown hair pulled into a braid that fell over her shoulder and grey eyes the color of steel.

Ana glared at the being at the top of the stairs, "Of course. Angel gone evil, right?" she raised an eyebrow, turning to look at Garth, "Classic Winchester meets dick angel scenario. Though if previous encounters are anything to go by, this isn't going to go well for her." The older hunter just looked at her with a blank and slightly shocked expression.

The female angel walked down two stairs, each step deliberately slow, "The ego on you and your father…" she shook her head and made a tsking sound, "you think that one of you would have learned by now."

"You are aware that my father and uncle are the two that put Michael and Lucifer in the cage, right? How many angels have been killed by the end of an angel blade in the hand of someone from my family?" Ana smirked, "I'm sure adding one more on to the list won't be much of a hassle." If the younger Winchester had learned anything from her father, it was how to run her mouth to her advantage.

"I'm going to wipe that damn smirk off of your face." Came a second voice, this one male, from the apartment door they had left open.

As Ana turned to look at the second speaker, she almost rolled her eyes at the classic angel look. The suit didn't look half bad on the angel's vessel, but the look on his face made her want to shove her angel blade through his chest, "I'm really flattered that you think it's going to take both of you to accomplish whatever goal you have that involves me, but neither of you are going to make it out of this alive."

"Even a Good witch isn't a threat to us. Your filthy magic is nothing compared to our grace." The male angel sneered, obviously already living with a solid hatred for Ana.

"Yofiel, that is enough." The female angel spoke as she descended the rest of the stairs, "Anastasia knows she doesn't stand a chance, otherwise she wouldn't be running her mouth. You know that there's no way out of this for you, child."

The witch let out a sharp, short laugh, "On the contrary, I know I'm going to get out of this." she spoke before throwing the male angel, Yofiel, back into the apartment he had exited from with the wave of her arm. Using her powers to make her angel blade appear in her hand, she handed it to Garth before throwing a wave of power at the female angel and knocking her back on the stairs. This was going to be a challenge and Ana was fully aware of that fact, but she also knew that if she was smart that the angel would be dead before she could do any harm to either herself or Garth. The fight between the two women hadn't been going on for long when she reached out and grabbed Ana's arm, flying them out of the building while at the same time knocking the witch unconscious.

-A-

"What do you mean _Ana's gone,_ Garth?" Dean snapped into his phone, "Where did she go?"

Garth pulled in a deep breath, "I mean one minute we're up against two angels, Ana gives me her angel blade and I go after one while she takes on the other, when I come back from killing the one Ana and the angel are both gone."

"Where are you?" Dean demanded, looking to his side to see Sam with a worried expression on his face, "Try calling, Cas." he instructed his younger brother while listening to Garth give him the address he was at. "Stay put, we're on our way to you." Once he hung up the phone, he took a sharp left and gunned it, pushing the Impala as fast as he dared on the residential street. With half of his focus on the road and half of it on the phone in his hand, he scrolled through his contacts until he came across the name he was looking for. Dean placed the phone to his ear and listened as it rang, waiting for it to be picked up.

"This is Connor." The male witch answered his cell phone as he handed a bottle of beer over the bar. The building was a little busier than they were used to for a week night.

Hearing the noise in the background, Dean realized where the kid was at, "Hey, it's Dean. Look, I know you're working, but Ana's gone missing… We may need your help on this one."

Connor froze as the words sunk in, everything else fading out of focus as he reached out to Ana with their weak, though still existent connection. When he was met by a wall on the other end, he quickly turned to look at William, "I have to go!" he yelled over the sound of the bar. A confused look crossed William's face as the large man walked over from where he had been standing by the front door, "The Winchesters were on a hunt and Ana's missing." he explained, his phone that was still connected to Dean in his hand.

"You make sure that girl is safe." William told his young friend as he moved to take Connor's spot behind the bar, "If you need anything, you let us know and we'll be there to do what we can." he offered up the entire coven's help. It hadn't taken long for them to include Ana in their group and he knew that they would all be willing to help.

Connor nodded, "Thanks Will!" he called over his shoulder as he quickly walked toward the exit, "Where are you?" he asked into the phone, not wanting to waste anytime using a spell to locate the Winchesters. After Dean gave him the exact address of where they were picking up Garth, he hung up his phone and walked down a dark alley where no one would see him teleport. When he appeared outside of the run down apartment building, he heard the surprised gasp of a man shorter than him who was standing by the only door leading in from the outside. "Are you Garth?"

"Who's asking?" The shaken up hunter questioned, bloodied angel blade in one hand and a pistol in the other.

"My name is Connor Mohr, I'm a friend of Ana's." He looked around, hoping that it wouldn't take Dean much longer to get there. "Dean called and told me she's missing, I'm here to help." Garth continued to look at him with an untrusting look and Connor realized he wasn't going to get anywhere with the man until one of the Winchesters showed up to vouch for him. Luckily it wasn't long until the sound of the Impala's engine came roaring down the abandoned street. Once the car had stopped, Connor was moving toward it, watching as Sam and Dean both exited the vehicle. "I can't reach her at all. There's something blocking out connection that I can't get passed."

Dean clenched his jaw, "Fucking angels." he swore as he moved around Connor and toward Garth, "What the hell happened in there, Garth?"

Sam glanced at Connor and signaled for him to follow them into the apartment, "Ana was talking about the blood you found in one of the apartments, why don't we start there while you explain." he offered, knowing that Dean was ready to lose whatever control her had left.

The smaller man nodded and led the group back into the building. As they started the stairs he began to explain what had happened, "After the call got disconnected the first one appeared at the top of the stairs. She and Ana went a couple of rounds with words, Dean your daughter has a mouth just like you." he commented off handedly. "When Yofiel appeared, there was a little more back and forth before Ana threw him into the downstairs right apartment and handed me this," he waved the angel blade in the air as they reached the top of the stairs, "I went to deal with him and when I came out of the apartment there was no sign of Ana or the other angel." He finished explained while directing them to the apartment covered in blood.

"This is too much spilled blood for it to be a vampire attack." Sam commented, looking around the room as he entered, followed by his brother and Connor. "Whoever was bled out here was tortured." he concluded, looking to Dean for agreement.

Dean simply nodded, eyes landing on Connor, "Got any witchy tricks up your sleeve that can give us a hand here?"

Connor thought for a moment, taking in the amount of gore around the room, "I can't do anything to figure out what this was, might be able to get a species from the blood, but I'm going to go ahead and assume it's probably human." he shook his head, what the hell had these guys gotten themselves into.

"Alright, well this can wait. No one is going to come through here anytime soon so let's focus on getting Ana back." Dean turned to Garth, "So the dead angel had a name, did you get one from the one that took Ana?"

Garth shook his head, "No, she didn't seem to want to brag about herself, just about getting rid of Ana." he answered, his stomach dropping at the thought of the young hunter at the hands of an angry angel.

"CAS! GABE!" Dean yelled, turning his chin up toward the ceiling, "We could use your help right about now!" The four men stood around in anticipation of a response, but when there wasn't one immediately, Dean turned to look at his brother, "Summoning spell?" he questioned, they had absolutely no leads and knew that they would need one of the angels help on this.

"There will be no need for a summoning spell, Dean." Castiel's deep voice came from behind him and when Dean turned around he saw the angel standing between himself and Garth.

A wave of relief fled through Connor, hopefully with Cas' help they would be able to find Ana. "An angel took Ana."

Castiel turned his attention to the blood on the walls, "We are aware. Gabriel is trying to track Ana and Laylah as we speak." he turned to look at the men before him, "Though we are not certain of her plan, we can be sure that it is not good."

Hearing his friend's words Dean wanted to yell or punch something, both would probably do, but there was no time to lose his cool. His daughter was missing at the hands of an angel who was doing God knew what and he needed to get her back as fast as he could, hopefully in one piece. "Why did they take her in the first place? This isn't something to do with that damn ritual again is it? I thought we put an end to that?"

"We did." Castiel assured the upset father, "I don't believe it is her blood that Laylah is after. Gabriel and I have been following a lead that a small faction of our brothers and sisters are trying to open a mouth to Hell. They would have Michael released, not caring either way if Lucifer is released as well."

Sam had to swallow past a lump in his throat, "Are they trying for another go at the apocalypse?" If Lucifer was free, he would come after Sam and then Michael after Dean. It would be a damn repeat of things they had dealt with years before.

"No, not the apocalypse, we're certain of that at least." Castiel's shoulders dropped, "Honestly there isn't a lot more we know other than that."

When it was clear that neither Winchester was clear headed enough to make a plan and that Garth wasn't going to step up and do it, Connor's mind began to process what would be best to do at this point. "Alright, this is what we're going to do. Castiel, go help Gabriel and see if you can track down Ana or Laylah. The rest of us will head back to where you guys are staying, I'll try a tracking spell, see if I can pick up anything that will help. We need to make sure we're prepared for anything, an attack, an exchange of some sort, a full on battle, whatever." All eyes were on him as he spoke, "We're going to get her back, whatever it takes. I'm not losing her again."

 _Meanwhile…._

The memory was too vivid for Ana's liking. There was rough twine wrapped around her wrists, tied to handle in the backseat of a car, and an old snow glove was shoved in her mouth so that her screams were muffled, not that they would have been heard over the loud playing music over the car's stereo. Her small body was pinned at the waist by the weight of the older boy on top of her, "Are you ready to have a little fun, Ana?" he questioned and though the music was loud the sadistic words reached her ears. Though the four year old girl wasn't aware of exactly what was going to happen, she understood that it couldn't be anything good. She watched with wide, green eyes as Brandon pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, placed one in his mouth, lit it, and took a long drag. The hand that didn't hold the cigarette trailed across the hem of her shirt, with her arms raised above her head the tee shirt was pulled up just enough to bare a small portion of skin between the cotton fabric of the top and the denim of the shorts she wore. Placing the cigarette firmly between his lips so both hands were free, Brandon gripped the bottom of her shirt and pulled it up so it revealed a wide section of her abdomen. The sixteen year old trailed a finger across the younger girl's skin, causing her to fight against the ties around her wrists in discomfort. Lightly pinching the cigarette between his pointer finger and thumb, Brandon brought it slowly from his mouth down toward the blemish free skin of her stomach, "If you fight against me, you'll get punished." he warned, before placing the red hot cherry against her skin, burning the flesh and causing Ana to scream out against the fabric in her mouth. Though her small body had no chance in fighting against the large one above her, the girl wiggled and squirmed as she tried to move away from searing pain, but the harder she fought, the more he pressed it against her skin. Finally pulling the cigarette away from her skin, Brandon smiled as a bright red welt formed in a small circle. Tears escaped from young Ana's eyes as he continued to torture her. After each turn with the cigarette against her skin, Brandon would have to relight it and then the whole process would start over again. A long drag from the filter, the burning in a new spot on her skin, and the long exhale of thick smoke accompanied by a chuckle far too dark for a boy of just sixteen.

By the time the cigarette was gone, Ana's eyes were red from crying and her stomach was marred by a dozen small, red welts. Little did she know that her nightmare was far from over. Reaching over the front seat of the car, Brandon pushed in the lighter that was housed in the dashboard and waited for it to pop out. "Aren't you having fun, Ana?" he asked, showing her the red of the small lighter before he placed it to a fresh spot of skin, causing the girl to scream out louder against the gag in her mouth. Over and over again he'd place the lighter against her skin, hold it there for a few seconds, and then remove it just to change the location. Time seemed to pass slowly as the fire was repeatedly returned to her stomach, but the front of her abdomen was nothing compared to when he forced her to turn over so he could restart the entire process on her back. Now not only was she being surprised by every touch of the cigarette or the lighter, but she was also forced to lay on the tender flesh of her stomach.

Fifteen years ago, when what she was remembering with frightening clarity had actually happened, there was a period of time where the pain had become too much for such a small body to handle and she had blacked out. Ana wasn't as lucky while she was reliving it; not only was she watching the torture occur, but she didn't have the blessing of being unconscious during it and she swore that she could feel the pain all over again. She had to watch, as if in a dream, as Brandon finished another cigarette on her back and then continued with the lighter. When he was finally finished he untied her hands, pulled the glove out of her mouth, and pulled her shirt down before picking her up and carrying her inside. It didn't stop there though, whatever was holding her in this memory started it over from the beginning. Once the door had opened on the house, Ana was forced to watch her worst memory happen on a loop.

-A-

Laylah stood back from the table that she had strapped the witch onto. Thankfully they had been prepared for the interference of the Winchesters and had already set aside straps that would not only hold the girl in place but would also bind her powers. Young Ana was helpless to the memory torturing her mind and while she was away from her family they would all be so frantic looking for her that they would no longer stand in the way of their plans. The angel smiled to herself at the thought of having her favorite brother back among them. Heaven was a wreck, angels were doing whatever they wanted, and there was slim order to things, but with Michael back everything would be right once again. Turning her attention from the whimpering young woman before her to the brother and sister standing guard at the door, she gave them each a stern look, "No one is to enter. If the Winchesters show up, you do what is necessary." Laylah instructed before flying away, ready to continue on with the next phase of her plan.

-A-

The four men had been trying anything they could think of to figure out Ana's location. Connor had removed the ash from the spell that Ana had cast just hours before and had tried many of his own, but each to no avail. Sam and Dean had both called every contact they had in hopes that someone would have an idea of what to do or where an angel would take a highly powerful witch to hide her, but there was no luck there either. It had been hours since the youngest Winchester had been taken and it was beginning to look like they weren't going to be able to find her.

After hanging up with the third contact he could think of, Dean tossed his phone onto his bed and swore. "I've got nothing. How is it that magic isn't able to help her and apparently Cas and Gabe haven't found anything yet? She's supposed to be extremely powerful, right? So why can't we find any trace of her anywhere?" he demanded as he began to pace the length of the room.

"I've tried everything I can think of, whoever has her must be blocking her power." Connor explained, "There's not much else I can do at this point." though he hated to admit it, all of his resources were used up and had turned up nothing.

Sam sighed and stood up from where he had been sitting at the small table in the room, "With Cas and Gabe doing what they can to find her, if they turn up nothing, you're kind of our only hope Connor. Think really hard, is there something you could have missed, something you haven't tried yet?"

The male witch frowned and sat down on the bed that he had been working over, placing his face in his hands as he thought over anything that could help them find Ana or at least give her enough power to fight against what was binding her to get a message out to them. "I've tried…" he was about to end that sentence with _everything,_ but then an idea struck him, "There's one last thing I can try, but I'm going to need some help." he told them.

"Yeah, whatever you need, we'll do anything." Sam answered, a little hope filling his eyes.

Connor stood and shook his head, "I'm sorry, but there's nothing you can do." he turned his attention to Dean, knowing that it was going to be him that would have a hard time with who he needed, "I need my coven, it's possibly our last chance of finding her."

Dean stood still at Connor's words, "If it will find my daughter, I don't care who you have to bring in. Just get it done."

The moment Dean had finished speaking Connor was pulling out his phone and dialing a number from memory, there was a soft mumble from the other end of the phone as the call was answered, "No, we haven't found her yet, that's why I'm calling. I need you to get everyone ready, I'm going to call Diane and have her teleport you all here." Connor paused as he listened to whoever was on the other end, his face falling at the man's words, "Pack everything for the power transfer spell and anything we may need." Another pause and a look crossing the witch's face that neither Winchester had seen before, "Damn it, William, I'm doing this. Just make sure it's all ready and get to the shop as fast as you can, there isn't any time to waste." he instructed before hanging up and dialing another number. "I need your help. William is calling everyone else, you need to get here as soon as possible." was all that was said before he hung up again and turned to the three men who were looking at him, "They'll be here soon. We need to find a space outside of town where we can do the spell, preferably outside."

Dean, Sam, and Garth all seemed to be frozen, but Dean quickly snapped out of it, "Alright, you heard the man. Let's get this show on the road." he ordered, grabbing the duffle that was on his bed full of weapons and walking out of the door. As Connor had said, there wasn't any time to waste and Dean wasn't about to spend another second doing nothing while his daughter was being held captive. Once everyone had piled into the Impala, he started the engine and pulled away from the bed and breakfast with a quick jerk of the wheel, the only thought on his mind was saving Ana.

 _A/N(2): Sorry for the second note guys, but I feel it's needed after the scene with Ana's memory of Brandon. I honestly never knew I could write something anywhere near that dark and it was actually extremely hard for me to get through, but it had to happen. It's a major part of Ana's backstory and something that I've wanted to explain in detail for a few chapters now. I'd love to know what you thought of this chapter as always. Thanks for sticking through that rather dark part. Honest apologies if I've upset anyone._

 _As always, thanks for reading._

 _Mercedes_


	29. Chapter 29

_A/N at the end :)_

"So this thing you're about to do, it's dangerous?" Dean asked as he and Connor grabbed supplies out of the trunk of the Impala. It hadn't taken them long to find a suitable place for the ritual; a small, lightly wooded area just off of the road outside of town. Closing the trunk, the two men made their way around to the front of the car where Garth and Sam stood waiting for the appearance of the witch's coven.

Connor didn't answer at first, what he was going to attempt to do with his coven was what William had called on the phone, " _One of the dumbest ideas anyone has ever had."_ Which, in all honesty, wasn't much of an exaggeration. "The ritual itself isn't something that has had a lot of test runs. After the first few tries, most witches have stayed completely away from it, but it's our last chance at helping Ana unless your angel pals find her before we've completed this."

Sam and Garth had stopped talking when they heard the other two headed their way, listening as Connor spoke, "What exactly will you be doing?" Sam questioned, pushing himself away from the nose of the car where he had been resting.

"Something that even the dumbest of witches wouldn't try." Came a female voice from just behind Sam and Garth. Turning their attention in that direction, the men noticed that they had been joined by three more men and two women. "I was never aware that you held a death wish, Connor Alexander Mohr. I thought you had more sense than this." the woman who was the eldest out of the group spoke. Her grey hair fell in waves over her shoulder and her eyes focused on the young man she had basically raised.

Moving away from the group of hunters and toward the woman, Connor sighed, "Diane, you know exactly why I'm doing this. I'm strong enough that any negative effects should be minimal and I can't stand not knowing where she is or what they're doing to her."

The largest of the men stepped forward, his burly build making Dean wonder if he was completely human, "Our circle is strong enough that we should be able to keep him grounded." he spoke to Diane before turning his attention to Connor, "None of us like the situation that Ana is in, but that doesn't mean that we're not going to worry about you too."

"Your connection to her is strong, it shouldn't take us long to make contact, but we should take extra precaution forming our circle. William, let's get started." The shorter of the remaining two men spoke, pulling the burly man away from the discussion and toward the small clearing in the trees that they would be using for their ritual.

Diane waited until the six of them were alone, turning her attention slowly from Connor to the man that was clearly Ana's father, if their matching green eyes were anything to go by. "I believe our meeting is quite a bit overdue, my name is Diane Richardson." she made the introduction to each of the unfamiliar men, but her focus was on Dean.

When Dean didn't speak right away, Sam stepped up with a gentle smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you, both Connor and Ana have spoken very highly of you. I'm Sam, this is my brother Dean, and our friend Garth." he introduced, gesturing to each man as he spoke their names.

Diane's eyes traveled over the group, landing with a quirked eyebrow at Garth, "I wasn't aware that the Winchesters kept any other nonhuman company." As Sam opened his mouth to explain, she held up a hand, "No need to explain yourself, although he is part beast, Garth's aura is anything but uncontrolled and murderous." Taking a moment longer to study the man before turning her attention to Dean, the older woman breathed slowly before speaking again, "I am aware of how you feel about witchcraft, Dean, but for a ritual like this we will have a larger chance in making contact with your daughter if you are a part of it."

His face hardened slightly, yes he still held a grudge against the type of witches that had come after him before, but he had grown so used to being around Ana and Connor that the idea of helping in a ritual to help find his daughter didn't phase him much. "What can I do?"

Connor turned to look at Dean, letting Diane go to make sure the others were preparing the circle properly and to lend a hand. "For the most part all you need to do is stand in a circle with the rest of them, your presence will strengthen the call and possibly the connection that I have with her. If you're willing a little of your blood would be helpful as well."

"I've never seen you use blood in a spell." Sam commented with a raised eyebrow. It had been something he had been interested in seeing when Connor had first started teaching Ana, because most of what he and Dean knew of witchcraft called for blood or bones of some sort. It hadn't taken him long to realize that nothing Connor did used anything from a human or animal, unless it was hair, which was painless to get.

With a flick of his eyes, Connor turned his attention to Sam, "Blood used in any sort of magic is frowned upon in white witch circles, but this spell isn't entirely built off of white magic." he explained, showing little shame for what he was about to do.

"I'll do it." Dean answered, not caring how much blood they would need as long as they got Ana back at the end of it.

Connor nodded and turned to see William walking back toward them, "We're ready when you are." he spoke quickly before turning back around to go join the rest in their circle.

"Alright, before we start this, I'm going to give you each a fair warning." Connor began, looking each man in the eye, "This won't be pretty, some would say it will be pretty uncomfortable to watch, but what you'll see me go through is necessary for me to help Ana. The circle cannot be broken during the ritual or very bad things could happen to both Ana and I. Dean, that means you can't move from your spot whatsoever. Sam and Garth, do not touch anyone within the circle or try to enter it yourself." He watched as the words sunk in with each man before turning and signalling for them to follow him toward his coven. Once among the group, Connor walked directly to the center of the circle and took a look around, making sure everything was right. When he was satisfied, he walked back over toward Dean and directed him to where he would be standing between Diane and William. Taking a ceremonial athame and a small brass bowl from Diane, he held out the knife toward Dean, figuring the man would be more comfortable doing it on his own. "I don't need much, so you don't have to make the cut very deep." Connor explained as he held the bowl out to catch the blood that fell. Watching as the older man cut the palm of his hand just deep enough to draw a slow stream of blood, Connor made sure to collect what he needed before taking the athame back and handing it to Diane. As he turned to walk back toward the center of the circle he prayed to anyone listening that this would work and they would at least be able to get some helpful information from Ana.

Taking in a deep breath Connor placed a finger in the bowl, stirring the bowl as he began to speak a soft incantation. He used the blood covered finger to draw a symbol on his forehead before placing the bowl on the ground and waving a hand to give the group the signal to begin the spoken part of the ritual. At first their voices were softer, their magic connecting the group together and using Dean's presence to pull forth the connection that Connor already held with Ana. What the witch hadn't explained to his hunter friends was that what the ritual did would most likely be extremely uncomfortable, even painful, for him. Once the connection was strengthened between the two witches he was able to pull on enough of Ana's power to break the wall that was mentally separating them and with that done, he was able to see exactly what she was seeing. Not only was he seeing it though, he was experiencing it from her point of view; the phantom pain, the clear memory of the torture that was occurring in her head caused him to fall to his knees in the middle of the circle. Making sure to not waste time, he did what he could to push his magic into her body, and that itself felt as if he were tearing his own skin off. Connor ignored the pain and continued on, pushing every ounce of power into Ana so that she could clear her head enough to communicate to the circle around him. His original goal had been to pull her completely out of whatever trance she had been under, but it was too strong and he understood that this was the most he could do. As Connor's body fell back onto the ground, he began to wither around, but the voice that came from his mouth didn't sound quiet like him. "Hello?" he questioned, a sadness to the voice that didn't belong to the man rolling on the ground in pain.

"Ana, can you hear me?" Diane questioned, being the only one out of the group to quit chanting as their combined strength was still needed to aid Connor.

"Diane? What's going on?" she questioned through Connor's body, her consciousness stuck in some black void as Connor continued to watch a younger version of Ana be tortured while he himself was dealing with an onslaught of pain at having most of his magic removed from himself.

The elder witch glanced at Dean and they shared a look before Diane's attention turned back to the body of her adoptive son on the cold ground, "We're trying to find you, Ana. Do you know where you're at? Is there anything you can tell us to help us find you?"

"I haven't been allowed to see where I am…" a soft, uncharacteristic sniffle came from the man's body, "I'm locked in my own head and these damn angels won't let me out. I have no control over my power so they must have somehow bound it."

"Ana, we need you to do something-" Diane was interrupted by Dean before she could get much further.

"I'm going to kill those winged bastards." Dean swore, watching as Connor continued to fight against whatever pain he was feeling, "Ana, you listen to me, alright? You use whatever connection you have with Connor and you send out a signal to Gabe. The moment he can find you, we will be on our way."

There was a moment of silence, "I'll do what I can, but I have to go now. Connor won't be able to take much more of this, I can feel it now, what the ritual is doing."

Diane frowned, knowing just how much more of the spell Connor could handle, "Ana, you use what of his power you need and you send that signal. We're all here, Connor will be fine. Just make sure you do what you need." she knew the words were what Connor would have told her himself if he could.

The silence that filled the circle for moments after was shattered by the sound of the witch in the middle screaming out as he and Ana both worked to pump enough power into her body to fight against the bond. With the amount of power Ana already held it didn't take much of Connor's, but any amount of power that had to be pulled further away from his body was extremely painful. In a moment she felt the power flow through her and she forced part of it out of her body, throwing it into the world with Gabriel's name etched into it, hopefully the angel would be able to follow it back. Quickly after releasing the energy Ana shutdown the connection between herself and Connor, returning all of his power back into his body and shoving herself back into the memory that she had been living with for the past few hours.

As his power filtered back into his body, Connor screamed out again, more in shock than in pain. The circle quickly broke and everyone around ran toward him; Diane being the first to make it there sat down and pressed gentle fingers to his forehead, whispering a soft spell which knocked him unconscious. Taking a moment to check the damage done to his magic, she sat back with a soft, relieved sigh. There were traces of Ana's magic all over Connor's, she must have made sure to do what she could to heal him as she broke the connection, making sure that a small part of her magic was sent with him to help him heal faster. "He'll be fine, but he needs to rest."

"Do you think it worked? Was Ana able to do something to get Gabriel's attention?" Sam questioned, hoping that someone in the coven could give him a question.

There was a collective shrug, none of them could tell, wherever Ana was it was too far away for them to feel it either way. Just as Dean moved to start pacing, he almost bumped into Castiel who had just appeared, seconds before, behind him. "Gabriel has found her. We need to go, now." the angel spoke in a rush before flying Dean, Sam, and Garth away from the area the coven of witches occupied. When they had reached their destination the group of men were standing in a bare room with walls made out of cement. "Ana is somewhere in this building. We should move quickly, there are angels all over the grounds."

"Where are we, Cas?" Sam asked, pulling out the hidden angel blade he kept on his belt. From the look of the windows the room they were in was partially underground.

The angel glanced around the room a moment, "This is the basement of an abandoned church in Maine. The floor above is slightly deteriorating, but this lower level spreads out wider than the one above ground. There are eight rooms and-"

"Ana is in the second to last room on the right just passed the randomly placed large room down the hall." Gabriel informed them as he appeared by Castiel's side. "There are two angels guarding her door but there will be more than that between here and there."

Dean pulled out his own angel blade, seeing that Garth held the one Ana had given him just before she had been taken, "Well what are we waiting for then?" he offered, moving between the two angels and toward the door that led out to a hallway. Looking to the left Dean saw that they were almost at the end of the corridor so he quickly turned right and began to make his way toward the opposite side of the building. He saw a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye and reacting quickly, he pushed the angel back against a wall and shoved his blade into the woman's chest. As he turned around he noticed four more walking their direction, "Gabe, Cas, go get Ana. We'll take care of this." he instructed, ready to take on anything that came his way.

Sam and Dean moved at the same time, taking the first two angels that came their way, not wasting any time in plowing through the force that came at them. With the two Winchesters taking on two at the front, Garth moved between them and pulled on the added strength that being a werewolf gave him and kicked one angel back while throwing another into the wall. Sam had made quick work of the angel he had been facing off against and moved to cover the one that Garth had kicked back.

"Keep moving!" Dean ordered once the four angels had been taken care of, he knew that this first attack would only be the beginning and that they had to keep pushing forward if he wanted to get to his daughter.

There were three more groups of angels coming at them and just before they were met by the first Castiel appeared behind them, "Gabriel has Ana. I'm getting you out of here." he stated before flying the group away and back to where he had picked them up at, knowing the Gabriel had taken Ana to where Connor would be at.

With a quick look around, Dean's eyes landed on his daughter who was whimpering in Gabriel's arms, eyes squeezed tight. "Is she okay?" he questioned, moving quickly over to the archangel and taking his daughter from the man. When Ana didn't open her eyes or even acknowledge his presense Dean began to worry further. "What's wrong with her, Gabe?"

"I didn't have time to undo Laylah's work in her head, we were about to be ambushed so I got her out of there." Gabriel explained as he watched Dean lower himself to the ground, Ana still cradled in his arms. Taking a quick inventory of the witches around standing slightly off to the side from there group, he noticed Connor still unconscious on the ground. "Cassie, get Connor up and moving. I highly doubt that our brothers are going to take kindly to us taking their hostage." he instructed as he knelt next to the father and daughter, placing his fingers to the witch's forehead and wincing as he realized what Laylah had done. "I'm so sorry, princess." using his nickname for her as he released her from the torture. Slowly raising his eyes to Dean's, Gabriel sighed, "This isn't going to be an easy one for her to deal with."

With a furrowed brow Dean looked down at his daughter and heaved a sigh of relief to see her eyes open, looking up at him, "Dad?" she questioned, voice quivering as she curled into him and began to cry softly.

"Hey, it's okay. I've got ya, baby girl, I've got ya." He muttered, holding her as close to him as she could get. Raising his eyes he noticed that Connor was awake and looking a lot better, Cas must have healed him up.

"We're going to have in coming angels soon." Gabriel told everyone, "My guess is that the only reason they aren't here yet is because they had to inform their boss." Turning to look at Castiel, he raised an eyebrow, "Laylah isn't smart enough to pull this off on her own, she has to be working with someone."

Castiel frowned in concentration, "Perhaps demons? The case here does include them among the werewolves and the vampires."

Ana had slowly stopped crying, listening as Gabe and Cas spoke about what could be heading their way caused her to pull it together. She wasn't anywhere near mentally ready for a fight, but she also wanted to drive an angel blade into Laylah's chest and watch as her burned wings singed the ground. Gently pushing herself away from Dean's chest, she looked up at her father, "Break down later." she informed him.

"Kid, you can sit this one out." Dean told her, watching as she stood up and he quickly moved to stand next to her, "Ana, you're shaking."

A look crossed over her face that showed, just for a second, how not okay she was, but nothing was going to keep her from this. "Trust me, it's mostly rage at this point. Those bastards deserve to die for what they did to me." she looked around at the coven at witches, "You should get out of here before they show up."

Diane took a few steps toward Ana, grasping both of the girl's hands in her own as she gave her a warm smile, "Angels or demons, they took you and will pay for what they have done."

"I believe you once told me that the world would soon learn that no one messes with the people you love." William spoke up, standing just behind Diane, "They will also learn that you are loved and well protected."

Ana nodded for a moment before turning to look at Connor, whom she had been trying not to focus on since they both came to, "This could get ugly very fast. I need to know that if it becomes too much, you and Diane will get the rest of them out of here." It took a minute, but Connor finally answered with a small nod. Turning her attention back to her family, knowing the hunters and angels would be the best bet at a plan, she crossed her arms over her chest, "Are we ready for this?" she questioned, taking an angel blade offered to her by Gabriel. _Why does he have a second one?_ Ana questioned herself, but there would be time to ask questions later.

"Do you want the truth or should I sugar coat it for you?" Gabriel asked, the grim look in his eyes counteracting the smirk on his lips.

"Give it to me straight." She demanded, looking past the people around her and out toward the darkness just behind the treeline. The feeling on the night air was changing and she knew that it wasn't a good sign.

The archangel made quick eye contact with each Winchester, "We'll need a miracle to get us all out of this alive." he answered in the flat, dark voice he rarely used. "All of the stops are going to need to be pulled out for this one."

Her eyes cast down toward the ground at Gabe's words, so many ideas running through her head at the same time, scenarios to keep her friends and family alive. Blinking, she raised her eyes back up, determination written on her face, "Alright, let's do this."

"Ana-" Dean began, but was cut off by the sudden appearance of too many angels. As his green eyes looked around, he quickly figured out they were completely surrounded by not only angels, but what also looked to be demons and other human looking things that could have been any variety of monster. They were severely outnumbered.

A slow smirk spread across Ana's face as she looked around, meeting her father's eyes half way, "You think they would have learned by now to not mess with a Winchester on a mission." A quick glance in Connor's direction reassured her that he was there watching her back and then she allowed her eyes to drift over the faces surrounding them, each one filled with anticipation to move on attack.

The first movement came from the front of the line of angels, there must have been a silent communication of attack because they all began to move at once. As the battle begun there were bodies everywhere, each opposing good force being surrounded by two or more opponents and it quickly became clear that though they had a full coven of witches, two angels, a werewolf, and two very experienced hunters fighting on their side that they wouldn't be able to last long if they continued to be overpowered as they were. Sam and Dean were working close together in a way that had become natural to both of them, each keeping an eye on the other while they handled their own foes. Cas and Gabe were popping around on what had turned into their battlefield, flying aiding in their own battles as they took out angels and monsters alike. Though most of the witches didn't have much fight training, they stood together and took down groups at a time with spells that were strengthened by Connor's aid.

Ana's red hair was like a fiery streak across the dark night as she fought off anyone that came her way, using a combination of the fighting tactics her family had taught her along with the power of her witch bloodline. Bodies were being flown back into others, clearing a path as she made her way across the field, she had caught sight of the angel that had tortured her and she was ready to put an end to the winged bitch. Just as she was within attacking distance the sound of a cry over the battle noises made her stop dead in her tracks and she spun as her eyes landed on her father, a man with black eyes held Dean's dominant arm behind his back at an unnatural angle as another man with a short blade in his hand walked toward him. "Connor!" Ana called, grabbing the witch's attention before teleporting over to him. Few had stopped fighting to see what the pair were up to and though both demons were still set on hurting Dean, they each paused to see why the girl had called out for her boyfriend rather than her father who was about to die at their hands. A second passed as each witch looked into the other's eyes, silent understanding passing between to two before their hands quickly came together between them, throwing a mild shock wave through the surrounding area. The pulse caused the enemies near them to hurry in an attack toward them, ready to take them both out to stop whatever they were about to do, but their attempt was in vain. Ana closed her eyes, pulling on the power that was flowing between herself and Connor, and she shouted a short phrase in one of the many dead languages she had become rather fluent in.

A bright light emitted from the two, causing Dean to quickly close his eyes and wince away from their direction. The force holding his arm back was suddenly gone and as the light slowly faded away, he was able to open his eyes and glance around at the product of whatever spell his daughter had done. A shiver ran through him as his gaze fell on the bodies that had been standing just moments ago that were now dead on the ground, the only ones left standing being their group of allies and the angels who looked just as shocked by what had happened as he was.

Pulling their power back in, Ana and Connor shared one more look and a soft smile before she turned to face the fifteen or so angels that were still living. Though their power was incredibly strong together, if they wanted to wipe out a group of angels that large they would have had to work with a darker magic that neither of them were willing to touch. The surprise was clear on each of the angel's faces, none of them had expected the pair of witches to be able to cast something even close to what they had and Ana took the time to look over each of them, searching for one in particular. When she found Laylah in the group she quickly teleported behind her, angel blade still in hand, and shoved it into the back of the being who had abducted her. The light that escape from Laylah's eyes was similar to the one that she and Connor had just conjured, though it faded a lot quicker than theirs had.

"If you would like to live longer than this day, I suggest that you all leave." Gabriel's voice rang out over the silence, fixing a glare at the brothers and sisters who stood against them. "You will not be given another chance to leave and you will die just as your leader has." he warned. Unsurprisingly those who were still standing didn't take long to fly away, leaving the small wooded area silently.

Ana's shoulders slumped and she probably would have fallen to the ground had Connor not teleported over to her, placing an arm around her shoulder and pulling her side against his own. "How did you know that would work?" he questioned. The spell they had performed hadn't seemed extremely difficult, but it took two witches of similar power levels and enough good residing between the two to manifest it in such a way that it killed any evil around it.

"I didn't for sure, but I had a feeling." she answered with a lightly shrug, oblivious to the others around them as they slowly came together.

Dean's arm hung at an odd angle from his elbow down and Sam limped as they moved toward their angel friend, "Gabe, what the hell was that?" Dean questioned, giving Castiel a thankful look as the angel healed his arm and moved to heal the long gash down the side of Sam's left leg.

"That, my dear friends, was the first example of what those two can do together to help save the world." The archangel explained, eyes focused on the young witches as they moved into a full embrace, "There will be more where that came from and my assumption is that we will see it soon. There's some big bad that they're supposed to face, the prophecy clearly states that there will be 'a foe that carries such great evil' that only they will be able to face together."

Castiel's head snapped toward his brother at his words, "You cannot be implying that Anastasia and Connor are a part of that prophecy."

"Oh, but I am, little brother." Gabriel simply responded, watching as the wheels turned in Cas' head.

"But that would mean-"

Gabe sighed, he knew exactly what the worried expression on the other angel's face was about, "That we're about to have a whole mess of trouble on our hands?" he nodded, "That is exactly what it means."

Dean looked back and forth between the angels, an eyebrow raising in question as he looked between the two once more before yelling, "Would either of you like to fill us in?!"

Castiel turned to look at his friend with a grave expression, "There is an unwritten prophecy, one that has very rarely been spoken of, that depicts a rising of evil in the likes the world has never seen before. The ritual that pulls Hell onto Earth is child's play in comparison to the damage that will be done if what Gabriel is insinuating is true."

"Could we get some specifics here, guys?" Sam asked, looking like he was on the verge of losing his patience.

With a dark, heavy sigh Gabriel's attention turned back to the two witches as the rest of their coven moved around them, talking quietly among themselves, "There was a prophet toward the beginning of this world who saw something that only few know about and the memory of it has seemed to fade for those who did know. _The Morningstar will fall, evil will be ascended upon God's creation, but good will prevail in the leadership of the Archistratege of God. Red tides will turn, plagues will rise, the end of times will come and pass without fruition. It is then that the Prince of the Seraphim will descend, becoming a foe that carries such great evil. Damned will become the world, Heaven, and Hell, if not for the good and more."_

"What does that even mean and what does it have to do with Ana and Connor?" Dean questioned, not in the mood to deal with old riddles.

"Wait…" Sam brow furrowed as his brain worked through the amount of knowledge he had stored there, "Aren't the _Archistratege of God_ and the _Prince of the Seraphim_ both Michael? The red tides and plagues? End of times without fruition, that's the apocalypse, right? It had begun but we stopped it."

Castiel nodded, "Lucifer fell and Michael was the only thing that could destroy him. Though it doesn't say how, the prophecy does state that Michael will become a powerful evil rival to Lucifer's own strength. I am assuming that something has happened to our brother in the time he has been trapped in the cage and that is what caused it."

"Hold on, am I understanding this right?" Dean put his hands out as if to stop everyone, "Whatever prophecy is saying that not only do we have to deal with Lucifer if he ever gets out, but we also have to deal with Michael batting for his team?" The heavy silence that settled between the two angels was all the answer that either Winchester needed, "I'm still not understanding where my daughter fits into all of this."

" _If not for the good and more."_ Gabriel repeated himself, giving Dean a long look, "It's a freaking riddle, Dean, try adding in some capital letters and changing some spelling."

Sam's eyebrows raised as he realized what Gabe was saying, "If not for the Good and Mohr. It's their bloodlines… but how do we know that it's them? I mean, Good and Mohr witches have been working together for centuries, there's no telling how many generations will be after those two."

Gabriel scoffed and shook his head, "After those two there won't be two separate lines. They will start a completely different line; derived from witches, hunters, and legacies." he gave a quick glance in the direction of the witches as they headed toward their small group, before turning to look back at Sam and Dean, "It's going to be awesome."

 _A/N: Hello everyone! Another chapter down and I can't believe the next one is going to put my story at thirty! I would like to thank each and every one of you for reading, knowing that there are people out there enjoying my works makes my heart happy! Who's excited about this new plot twist? Let me know what you're thinking, I love to hear from you guys!_

 _eldaearien: Thank you so much for the review! I'm glad you didn't see that scene as too dark. My goal was to relay it with the heaviness that accompanies something like that without outright scaring my audience. I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)._


	30. Chapter 30

_A/N: Here it is guys! Chapter thirty, yay! I may just be a little bit excited, if you can't tell. As a special Halloween Eve treat I'm posting this chapter earlier than I thought, because 1) I couldn't stop writing to save my life and 2) Halloween is my favorite holiday and this is the only treat I can give you, my lovely readers. There's some Dean/Ana and Connor/Ana fluff in this chapter, please let me know what you think! :)_

 _edlaearien: The prophecy is going to start playing a MAJOR role in coming chapters! There's a lot going on for Ana all at once and we're going to see her react in a very Winchester way. :) Thanks for the review dear._

 _JediCat1965: :D that comment made me so happy. Bringing back Charlie and Gabe was one of my goals from the very beginning and I'm glad you enjoyed that._

Connor's coven had stopped with the group of hunters and angels to say a quick goodbye, assuring both of their younger members that they were all fine and would be there should they need help again. Diane teleported the group out of the clearing and those left fell into a strange silence. Since the spell that they had performed to help connect Connor and Ana he was able to feel things through their bond that he hadn't been able to since just after the fight with Valac. To say that the feelings he was getting across their bond had him worried was an understatement. "We should probably get out of here, go back to the bunker?"

"There's still a lot going on here that we need answers about." Sam pointed out. They needed to fill both witches in about the prophecy and consider telling Garth to let them handle this one, he did have a family to get back to and for him to get caught up in something this serious didn't bode well with Sam.

Connor fixed a hard look at Sam, "Ana is in no shape to be dealing with this right now, she needs a couple of days to heal from what the angels did to her."

"I'm fine." Ana stated, raising an eyebrow at Connor, "How about next time you ask before you start making decisions for me?" the question was rhetorical and she quickly turned her attention away from him and to the others standing around them, "What's our next step? We still have no idea what they are all doing here and what they want with that devil's gate. Also, we have no idea on who their leader is."

"We may have a better idea of what's going on here than you think." Dean spoke up, sending a quick glance at Gabriel.

Ana caught the shift of her father's attention and turned to look at the archangel, "Spill, Gabe. What's going on here?"

Gabriel frowned, he had to tread carefully with what he told the witches and he hoped at the same time that neither of the male Winchesters would open their big mouths and spill the beans. "There's a faction of angels working to open the cage and set Michael free."

The girl visibly paled, though how it was possible for her to look any paler was a mystery in it's own, "Wouldn't that release Lucifer as well?" Though the hell from her past was still lingering in the back of her mind, she knew it would be nothing compared to what would happen if Lucifer and Michael were set loose.

Dean nodded, "Most likely, but even if he's not, we'll have enough trouble trying to deal with Michael." It was taking everything he had to not tell his daughter to leave, there was no way that he was about to let her go up against either the devil or the highest ranking angel.

"Well, yeah, from what I've seen of Michael he's a giant dick." Ana stated, not really wanting to meet him either. Honestly she felt like she had dealt with enough angels to last her a lifetime, she would be okay if the only ones she saw from that point forward were Gabe and Cas.

"If they set Michael free," Dean began, his brow furrowing as his eyes focused on his daughter's, "he's coming out dark side. We're talking Lucifer level bad and if they're both released…" he trailed off and shook his head. "They need to know about the prophecy." The words were directed at Gabriel.

Connor's attention perked up at the word _prophecy,_ "There's a prophecy about all of this?" he questioned, knowing full well that it was more likely to happen if some prophet had seen it happen.

"Yes, there is." Castiel spoke up, looking at Dean's daughter, "It basically states that if Michael surfaces and is no longer on the side of Heaven that the two of you are the only power on Earth that can stop him."

"No," Connor's eyes went wide as a memory of story that he had been told as a child passed through his mind. He shook his head, "You have to be kidding. I know that prophecy, it's been spoken about in my family for generations…." his mind wandered to the words he recalled being told by his grandmother long ago. "Wait," a realization hit him and he turned his attention to the archangel, "tell me the whole thing."

Ana looked up at Connor with a confused expression, why was he freaking out about this? Wasn't it a good thing that they at least knew that the two of them could stop Michael if he was let out of the cage? As Gabriel began to repeat the prophecy as he had told Sam and Dean, she simply accepted what it said, seeing no reason for a panic to be rising within her as it seemed to be in Connor.

The male witch shook his head, "No, there's more to it than that and you know it." he sent a quick glance down at Ana before looking back up at Gabe, "And you're sure that we are the witches in that prophecy?"

"Certain." Gabriel stated, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at the Mohr witch. Of course he would know about the prophecy and not just the part that Gabe had decided to share with the group.

"What is the second part of it, Gabriel?" Ana questioned, face stern and eyes demanding answers. She was latching on to the conversation and any form of confrontation that came her way to distract herself from the terror ringing through her body. Every time she blinked she swore that she could see Brandon and it was taking all of her strength to not break down in front of the family and friends around her.

The archangel shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know what he's talking about, I've never heard of a second part to this particular prophecy." he scooted around the truth, knowing that there was only so much he could do before Connor blurted the whole thing. "We should really focus on this devil's gate thing, we need to figure out who is leading the ragtag bunch of monsters."

Ana took a couple of steps until she was standing directly in front of Gabriel, "Do you want to rethink that answer? I have had enough crap for six months Gabriel, let alone one day and I'm not in any mood for you to be keeping things from me. This prophecy is about me, right? So tell me what it says."

Gabriel cocked an eyebrow at her, "I'm an archangel, Anastasia, you think you can scare me?"

"When your big brother goes dark side, I'm part of the solution to that, do you really think your rank in Heaven is going to stop me from beating information out of you if I need to?" She retorted, not backing down, "Whatever it is you don't want to tell me, specifically pertains to me and I believe you know how well I react when things like this are kept from me."

Castiel stepped forward, "Gabriel, just tell her. Connor already knows and I'm assuming if you don't tell her, he will."

"Fine." Gabe grumbled, frowning at both his brother and Ana, "The second part is centered around the two of you." he glanced back and forth between the two witches, " _The two from the strongest of bloodlines will unite in a force like none have seen before. Two lines, two souls, two lives will become one and create another that will have the strength of both."_

Connor glanced at Dean as Gabriel spoke, waiting for the Winchester to freak out at what was being said, but when he seem to be not affected Connor turned his attention back to Gabriel. "Tell her all of it."

Ana held up her hand, "Before you continue, let me make sure I'm understanding this correctly. This prophecy is saying that Connor and I are going to what? Get married? Have a kid?"

"Soulmates." Dean spoke, eyes focused on his daughter, "It's saying that you're soulmates and that when you have a child it will be extremely powerful."

" _The combination of the two lines will create a being with enough power to bring about peace or great destruction."_ Connor finished the final part of the prophecy for her, eyes focused toward the trees.

Ana eyes went wide and she felt her heart begin to hammer in her chest. This was just too much, she hadn't been prepared for something like that added on top of the fact that she was already handed the duty of dealing with an evil Michael, if he ever surfaced, and the trauma from the torture she had undergone meer hours before. The panic filled her in a way she hadn't felt for months and her breathing started to become erratic, tunnel vision began to set in. Before it got any further she felt to strong, familiar hands grab her shoulders and two green eyes forced themselves into the darkness that was beginning to surround her. "Ana, it's going to be okay. You need to take a deep breath for me, can you do that?" her father's voice penetrated her brain past the panic and she tried to pull herself together, but it wasn't working.

The look on his daughter's face was something Dean had come to recognize and when she didn't first respond to him or begin to calm down he pulled her tight against his chest, hoping that his own steady heartbeat and breathing would help calm her down. She was overwhelmed, he understood that and since he still had no idea what had happened while she was Laylah's captive he couldn't completely understand what she was dealing with. "Hey, it's going to be okay." he told her softly, murmuring close to her ear.

"What's wrong with her?" Garth quietly asked Sam, his eyes glued to the father and daughter as the latter shook in Dean's hold.

Sam and Connor shared a sad look, "She's prone to panic attacks." Sam answered followed by a soft sigh, it had been a while since he had seen her react like this and he had hoped that she was getting better. "What happened while she was with Laylah?" he asked, directing the question toward Gabriel who he assumed knew since he pulled it from her mind.

"Brandon." Connor grimaced, she had explained it to him long ago, but seeing it for himself was something completely different. "She was reliving what he did to her."

Dean listened as Connor spoke and held Ana tighter to his chest, no wonder the rest of this was just making it worse. Looking over to Castiel, he met his friends eyes, "Put her to sleep." he instructed softly, not knowing what else to do for her before she began to get worse. The angel nodded and touched two fingers to Ana's forehead, lulling her into a peaceful sleep with his power. Catching her now dead weight, Dean shifted until he could pick her up and carry her, "We should get back to our room. We'll let her get some rest and figure the rest of this out in the morning."

With a subtle agreement from everyone, they headed in the direction of the Impala and Connor quickly came to the conclusion that they all couldn't fit in the car. He convinced Dean to let him teleport Ana back to the hotel so that the three hunters could ride comfortably in the car while Cas and Gabe went to check on leads about who was leading the force in opening the devil's gate. Carefully transferring the sleeping girl from her father's arms to his own was a bit of a task, but it was done quickly and with her safely in his arms, Connor pulled on his power and teleported them both back to the room she was sharing with her father. He slowly laid her down on one of the beds and then knelt down on the floor next to her, brushing her hair out of her face, "I will keep you safe and should the day come that we have a child, I will do everything in my power to make sure that they will be just as good as you are." he spoke softly, images of what their possible life together could be played in his head. "I love you, Anastasia and I'm not going to let anything happen to you." he promised her sleeping form before sitting down next to the bed and resting his head on wall, his hand reaching out to softly play with her hair.

-A-

"You seriously need a shower," Dean's voice broke through her sleepy haze even though it was clear he was trying to be quiet, "and some clean clothes. It doesn't take you long to teleport, might as well get what you need. She'll still be here when you get back."

Ana was refusing to open her eyes, she hadn't slept that soundly in months and she wasn't sure she wanted to face the problems the world was throwing at her. There was a long silent pause before Connor sighed, "Fine. I'll be back." he stated, the room filling with a burst of power as he teleported away.

Soft footsteps were headed her way and then there was weight near the foot of the bed, making it dip at an angle. "Are you going to keeping pretending you're asleep or are you going open your eyes and talk to me?" Dean asked, setting a gentle hand on the side of her thigh.

"What time is it?" She asked, still keeping her eyes shut, not ready to face the sunlight she could feel filtering through the window in their room.

"Just after eight." He answered moving on the bed so that he was sitting on the other side, back resting against the headboard, "How are you feeling?" The question couldn't be avoided and he waited for her to react as he looked down his shoulder at her.

Rolling over to face her father, Ana finally opened her eyes and looked up at him, "I'm fine, dad. Yesterday was just… a lot. Between being held captive by angels, fighting against said angels and other monster, then learning that Connor and I are basically soulmates and that our future child could turn out to be evil… It was just too much at one time, but I'm fine."

Dean fixed a hard look down at her, "Ana, Laylah tortured you, I don't expect you to be fine after that and it's completely normal if you're not."

The youngest Winchester rolled her eyes, "Dad, I said I'm fine. So just be glad about that and let's drop the subject." Pushing the blanket off of herself, she climbed out of bed and moved to grab her bag.

"Yeah, you're not related to me at all." He muttered while watching her pull out clean clothes. "Connor just went to pack some things and then he'll be back. Why don't you shower and then we'll go get breakfast?"

Ana glanced at her father before pulling a few more items out of her bag, "Trying to say I smell?" she asked, not looking up again.

"I was more thinking about the dried blood from the fight. People may ask questions if you go out like that." Dean stood off of the bed and moved toward the door, "I'm going to go across the hall, come on over when you're done."

With a quick nod she headed toward the bathroom, looking down at the dried spots of blood that covered her arms and shirt. Locking herself in the bathroom, she moved over to the shower and turned on the tap, letting the water adjust. She avoided the mirror as she undressed, not sure that she wanted to see what she looked like at the moment. Once under the hot water, Ana sighed contentedly, focusing on the feeling of it as it turned her skin pink. Taking her time, she stood under the spray for the first few minutes and just before she was going to begin her normal shower routine she felt the familiar pulse of power as Connor teleported into the bathroom, "Probably not the best room to appear in. What if it was my dad in here?" she questioned, not needing to look outside of the curtain to know it was him.

"I knew it was you otherwise I would have just came into the room." Connor answered, voice seeming soft and a little timid. "We should talk about the prophecy."

She chuckled dryly, "The one that says that we are some weird power couple and that our future child could save the world… or destroy it?" she shook her head as she washed her hair, "Sounds pretty self explanatory."

Connor sighed and leaned against the bathroom counter, "Don't get defensive with me now, Red. We need to figure out where we stand with all of this."

"Where we stand with this?" She scoffed, watching as the suds from her shampoo floated over her body, "It doesn't sound like we have much of a choice."

Taking in a deep breath, the male witch moved to stand just outside of the shower, "I'm all about free will, but if this is one of those things I have no control over…" he paused, wishing he could look at her instead of the damn shower curtain. Without a second thought he pushed it aside, meeting her surprised gaze with a determined one of his own, "then I'm okay with that."

"You're okay with that?" she repeated, moving to turn off the water, not phased by the fact that she was naked in front of him, it wasn't the first time. Watching as he grabbed the towel hanging up and handed it to her, she sighed, "You're okay with basically not having a chance of who you end up with in this life?" the question was asked as she wrapped the towel around her body.

He shook his head, strands of black hair moving as he did, "No, because I knew the moment we met that I wanted to be with you and those few months I spent away from you were hell."

"But think about it, Connor." she moved around him to get out of the shower, "If we ever have a child, there will be the possibility that it would be evil. I couldn't live with myself if I unleashed something like that on to the world. Can you imagine the kind of power any child of ours would have?" she shook her head, "I can't believe I'm talking about our possible future child and I'm only nineteen, that on top of the fact that we haven't been together for months just makes this really weird."

Moving behind her, Connor wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his front, "Obviously there's no time limit on this, we still have a few obstacles to work through before we even have to think about having any children. Just know that I'm not just _okay_ with this, I _want_ this. Ana, I want you."

Sighing, she leaned her head back against his chest, "I'm a mess and you don't deserve to have to deal with that."

"I won't be dealing with it, I'll be helping you fix it." he kissed the top of her head, reveling in the feeling of having her in his arms, "If you don't want me, though, I'll leave the whole matter alone."

Ana glanced over her shoulder at him, "Seriously." she raised an eyebrow at him and turned so she was facing him, "You're telling me that you can't feel what I'm feeling through our bond?"

A sly smile spread across his lips, "I can, I just want to hear you say it."

With a roll of her eyes, she placed her hands on his shoulders and stood on her tiptoes so she was a little closer to his eye level, "You, Connor Alexander Mohr, are so completely full of yourself. Now get out of the bathroom so I can change."

"What's up with you and Diane using my full name with that tone?" he shook his head, "I'm not a child."

"No, but you're acting like one." she placed a soft kiss on his cheek, "We have work to do and I need to get dressed, so go find my dad and Sam to see what they're up to. Oh, and get Gabe and Cas here, I have some questions about Michael."

Connor nodded, "Your wish is my command." he teased before placing a kiss on her forehead and turning to leave the bathroom. He paused as he opened the door, turning around and leaning on the frame as he looked at her, "Ana, you know that you don't have to put on a strong face for your family, right? What you went through isn't something to be taken lightly."

The redhead sighed and leaned back against the sink, "We have enough to deal with without worrying them about me. I'll be fine."

"You can't lie to me." he stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Look, I handled going through it once, so this time shouldn't be as bad. I've been dealing with the memory of that my whole life, this is nothing different." Ana tried to assure him, knowing that it was futile since he could sense what she was feeling, the spell he did to connect them had strengthened their bond in a way that made it just as open as it had been when it was first created.

With a sigh Connor shook his head, "Just, talk to someone if you need to, okay?" he didn't wait for an answer, just grabbed the bag he had brought with him off of the floor and left the bathroom. Leaving the bag on the table in the room, he made his way out of the door and across the hall to Sam's room, knocking on the door before letting himself in.

"Hey, we were just saying bye to Garth. He's going to head back to be with his pack." Sam explained, turning his attention back to the shorter man standing by one of the beds.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" Garth asked, looking back and forth between the brothers. "I don't feel right leaving when you have so much to deal with."

Dean stepped forward and clasped the other hunter on the shoulder, "We can handle this one Garth. I'm sure Bess would appreciate it if you got back home in one piece."

Garth nodded, "Yeah, she wasn't too keen on me coming to help in the first place, but I'm glad I was able to help. If you guys need anything don't be afraid to call, alright? I'll keep track on hunters in the area and if you need help I'll send someone your way." The men said quick goodbyes, Garth forcing each into a hug. Once Ana entered the room she willingly gave him one, thanking him for sticking with them and wishing him the best with his wife and pack.

Watching as the door shut behind her new friend, Ana waited until it was closed and then turned to face the men left with her in the room. "Gabe? Cas? We need to talk." she called into the room, catching the shared look between her father and uncle, "I want answers about this damn prophecy I'm a part of."

The sound of rustling wings filled the room as the two angels appeared, Castiel stood next to Dean and Gabriel was sprawled across one of the beds, "You rang?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow in Ana's direction.

Despite everything that was happening, she gave a short laugh at the archangel's antics. "I want more information about the prophecy." Ana informed him, arms crossing over her chest.

"I'm going to need you to be more specific than that, princess." Gabriel stated, scootching so that he was sitting at the end of the bed. "First half? Last half? Who, when, where, why?"

"Let's just worry about the first half for now. With what's going on here I figure we're closer to Michael and possibly Lucifer being released from the cage than to me spawning possible evil." Ana used her telekinetic powers to drag a light wooden chair across the room toward her. Grabbing on to it once it was within reach, she adjusted the seat so that it was facing Gabriel and she sat down, elbows resting on her knees, "We're talking worse than the apocalypse, right? Let's say something doesn't work according to plan and we don't finish Michael, what's going to happen to the world?"

Mimicking her posture, the archangel looked at the girl across from him in the eye, "Best guess? Heaven crumbles into an even worse shape, Hell gets overfilled with souls, and Mikey sets fire to the whole planet." he shrugged, "We won't know for sure unless it happens, that's why we need you two ready to take big brother down should he rise."

Connor moved to stand behind Ana's chair, "Is it safe to say that if Lucifer rises alongside Michael that we're going to be facing off against him as well?"

"If Michael does rise and has fallen to the side of evil, it will be Lucifer's doing." Castiel informed them, eyebrows pulled together in thought, "The possibility of Lucifer being set free when Michael is released is very likely, there is little to no way to control who or what comes out once the cage is opened. It is my belief that if these things come to pass that Michael and Lucifer will be fighting side by side."

"Freaking awesome." Dean's tone dripped with sarcasm, "It was hard enough dealing with those pricks when they were fighting _against_ each other, now we have to deal with them being battle buddies?" The oldest Winchester shook his head and turned his attention to his daughter, wondering why going up against something like this was falling on her shoulders, but of course it would. She was a Winchester and for some reason his whole damn family was chosen for one thing or another and it never played out in their favor.

At her father's outburst, Ana's attention turned to him and she let out a slow sigh at the look on his face as he stood there just looking at her, "It's okay, this is not the first world ending problem we have faced together and we got through that one just fine." standing up, she took a few steps toward him, "Have a little faith, dad, I mean…" she turned away from him at the last second, walking in the opposite direction, "There's an entire other part of this prophecy that says I'm going to marry this guy," she waved a hand in Connor's direction, "and we're going to have a kid, so we're going to make it out of this alive." As she turned around to face Dean again, she was met with a deep scowl and glaring eyes.

"If you're trying to make me feel better, broaching that subject was not the way to do it." Dean informed her, sending a quick glance toward Connor who wasn't looking at either of the Winchesters.

Ana shrugged, "I'm just saying that if some prophet saw it happen, it's most likely that it _will_ happen and for it to do so Connor and I both have to live through this. If we live, you guys will all live too because it's not like I haven't saved either of your lives with magic before." She paused, a sly smile spreading across her face, "Plus, you have to be around to meet your grandchild."

"This is not funny, Anastasia!" Dean growled.

"Come on, it's a little funny." She offered, glancing to Sam and Connor, waiting for one of them to agree with her.

Connor shook his head when their eyes met, "I would like to continue to live, so I'm not going to comment whatsoever on this subject."

"Wise choice, Gandalf." Dean glanced at him before turning his attention back to Ana, "We have enough stuff to deal with right now and you are too young to be getting pregnant, so drop the _grandchild_ crap."

Ana laughed softly, "Okay, I'll stop, I'm sorry." her eyes darted around the room to the men that made up her family, "On a more serious note, where do we go from here? Find a way to keep the devil's gate shut so that we don't even have to worry about Michael or Lucifer?"

"It does seem like the best coarse of action." Castiel advised slowing transferring his attention from Ana to Gabriel, "We should see if we can find out who is leading this attempt to free our brothers."

Sam glanced back and forth between the two angels, having been pretty silent up until that point, "Do you have any ideas? You guys were searching all last night, weren't you?"

Gabe stood up with a nod, "Yeah, we were, but other than Laylah we haven't been able to find anyone in the position to try something like this. Whichever of our brothers or sisters is heading this venture is keeping themselves very well hidden."

"Alright," Dean spoke up, "Well why don't you guys see what you can dig up, the four of us will head to the cemetery and keep an eye on the devil's gate. Hopefully we'll be able to stop anyone that tries to open it." The angels left quickly, wanting to find the lunatic that thought it would be a good idea to open up the cage.

"Hold on, I have a question." Ana turned to look at her uncle, assuming he would be the one to best answer it, "When you guys opened the cage the first time, wasn't it in a cemetery in Kansas? So if they were trying to open the cage, why are they doing it here?"

Sam thought a moment, "Well when we opened the cage in Lawrence, we had the rings from the Four Horsemen. I'm assuming they're using a different tactic, maybe they're sending troops through the gate into Hell to retrieve Michael? If they're working with the right demons, maybe all they have to do is just open the doors and their allies will have Michael on the other side." he shrugged, "Until we have more information, all we can do is guess."

Ana nodded, "Too many variables, not enough solid facts." she concluded, understanding what her uncle was saying. "Alright, so let's pack our things and get to the cemetery. I'd rather stop this before it starts than have to face down Michael and Lucifer." Turning quickly, she made her way out of the room and across the hall to the one she was sharing with Dean.

"When did she become the boss?" Dean questioned, glancing back and forth between Sam and Connor. When neither man answered he sighed and followed the direction his daughter went to collect his jacket from their room so they could leave for the cemetery.


	31. Chapter 31

_A/N: HOLY COW GUYS! The views that I got after posting that last chapter made me so giddy! I honestly am so thankful for each and every one of you. I continue to write and try to come up with crazy ways to mess with the Winchester world because of the response I get from you, so thank you!_

 _eldaearien: I won't spoil anything for you, but you won't be disappointed with what the next few chapters hold for Ana and the guys :)_

The drive from the town of Finch to Calvary Cemetery was about forty-five minutes, just shy of thirty if you happened to be riding in the car with Dean Winchester. There was a heavy feeling of pent up emotions within the car, between the three masters of, "Nothing's wrong, I'm fine," and the obvious disbelief on the part of a certain Mohr witch, nothing was being said. Oddly, not even the sound of music was heard over the speakers. It seemed that even the driver was too lost in thought to bother trying to pretend that everything was normal.

Ana's eyes were focused out of the car window at the passing fields. Though it was only ten in the morning, the sky was grey and it, along with the tension in the car, wasn't boding well with the young witch. The silence was her enemy along the ride, it left too much time for her to dwell on what she had gone through in the clutches of the angels. Trying her hardest to not let her brain wander to the now _very_ vivid memory was becoming increasingly difficult as the drive continued on and she knew that her attempts to hide her terror, panic, and distraught emotions from Connor weren't working because he continued to look over at her every couple of minutes. Thankfully the man sitting next to her didn't try to give her any physical comfort because she knew that in the passing moments in the car if he _had_ tried, she would have lost all control and broken down, which is exactly what she didn't want. No, she was fine. These feelings were nothing new for her and she knew how to deal with them, she had been doing so since the day it happened, but it was so much different having to watch the torture be executed over and over _and over again._

When Dean pulled the Impala up to the railroad tracks that constructed the iron devil's trap, he glanced back into the rear view mirror, focusing on his daughter before turning off the engine. "So, we need to do what we can to make this place a freaking fortress. The tracks need to be checked to make sure the trap is still in tact, we should put up a couple of banishing sigils incase any unwelcome angel douchebags show." He paused, waiting to see if she would meet his eyes in the mirror as they had done so many times before, but when it became clear that she wasn't going to meet his gaze Dean looked over his shoulder at Connor. "Think you could come up with some sort of magical barrier? Try to keep out what we can with that?"

"Yeah, that should be easy enough. Depending on the strength of whatever may head this way, it should hold for a while and I know a spell that sets off a warning signal if a barrier is broken." Connor answered, nodding at Dean before looking at Ana, "I'll need your help, you know barrier spells are stronger when we work together."

The redheads only response was a curt nod, her eyes still focused out the window. Without speaking, she opened her door and stepped out of the car, closing the door gently behind her. Dean glanced at his brother before looking back to Connor, "You can still sense what she's feeling right? Your bond thingy is all up and running again?"

Connor nodded, glancing out the back window as he heard Ana open the trunk, "No matter how much she says she is fine, she's really not." he informed the brothers, knowing that they each were just as worried as he was. Ana wasn't acting like herself, not that any of them expected her to after what she had been through, but how silent she was being was beginning to scare all of them.

"I haven't heard her say anything that didn't pertain to the prophecy or what's going on with this case since she came into my room this morning." Sam offered, "She can't just keep this all in."

Dean shook her head, "But that's exactly what she's going to do and as much as I think it's a terrible idea, we shouldn't try to force anything out of her. Maybe she just needs time to get her thoughts straight before she comes to one of us to talk?"

"Or she's going to keep her mouth shut until she's forced to talk." Connor chimed in softly, watching as Ana's form moved around the driver's side of the car, the duffle with her spell supplies slung over her shoulder.

When she stopped by Dean's window, he rolled it down and looked up at the blank expression on his daughter's face, "You guys going to get out so we can get started or are you going to continue to talk about me like I don't know what you're doing in there?" her words held just a little bit of a bite, she just wished that they would leave it all alone. Speaking about her emotions had never been a strong suit of her, not when they were deep, raw emotions painted in red hues. Plus they really had bigger things to worry about at that moment. The three men gave her slightly embarrassed looks, but didn't answer, so she turned to walk toward the cemetery, "If you don't hurry up I'm going to start the spell without you, Connor!" she called over her shoulder.

"If I ever had any qualms about Ana being your daughter, they have just been squashed." Sam commented to his brother as he opened the passenger side door.

Dean watched the taller man exit the car with a questioning look before getting out himself, "Sam, it's been almost a year and a half, if you didn't think she was mine you could have said something sooner."

"I'm not saying that I ever really did, but in that moment she was so much like you, it was kind of scary." The younger Winchester brother clarified as he moved toward the trunk to grab the bags they would need. "Having an angel confirm that she was your child kind of got rid of any question in my mind."

Connor shook his head at the brothers and made quick work of getting his things out of the trunk. A lot needed to be done and there was no telling how long they were going to need to be there until their next course of action could be planned out. He jogged to catch up with Ana, who was now standing in front of the devil's gate, a hand pressed against the door. "Hey, you alright?"

"This was where my grandfather pulled himself out of Hell, where my dad killed Azazel…." She trailed off, removing her hand from the door and turning around to look at Connor, "The last time they were here... Bobby and Ellen were still alive, neither of them had been to Hell and back… Things weren't perfect, but they were easier."

He walked over to her, dropping his bag to the ground as he looked at the door, "A lot has happened, but it hasn't been all bad. They have you now and though you all can drive each other crazy, it's clear you love one another."

"You're right, but ever since I came into their lives it's been one thing or another. I just wish things could be better for them, ya know?" Ana shrugged, before turning away from him to dig through her bag. "We should get started on the barrier."

Sam and Dean walked through the old headstones as they made their way over to the two witches who were putting their supplies together. Each man remembering what had happened the last time they had been there, "I can't believe how long it's been." Sam commented, frowning as he passed familiar gravestones.

Dean only nodded in response before moving over to where Connor and Ana stood, he had watched their conversation from afar, but couldn't hear anything, though it was obvious that Connor hadn't made any progress getting through to her. "So, you kids ready to do your witch stuff? Sam and I will start working on sigils." he watched as Ana continued to pull things out of her bag.

"This shouldn't take us long, we've done it before, but while we're working we all need to keep our eyes open. Until the spell is finished we're pretty much moving targets." She explained, standing up and handing Connor a couple of things. "We'll get this up and meet you guys back here."

As she walked away, Connor gave each man a long look before following behind Ana. "You need to talk to someone, Red." He couldn't beat around the bush any longer, she was worrying him too much. Their bond was too open and neither of them had really put in the effort to close it down, so it sat there between them, transferring _all_ of her emotions to him and that's what was making it harder for him to ignore. When she continued to walk toward the north without even acknowledging his words, he sighed, "Anastasia, I'm serious. You can't hide this from me so I know you're not okay, _they_ know you're not okay. It's not healthy to keep it all locked up inside and act like everything is fine."

"Just drop it, Connor." Her voice was flat, holding none of the emotion that was raging through her body. "Let's just get this spell done so we will have a little warning before we're attacked." She knew the need to keep them all alive would distract him for a little while longer. There was nothing else spoken until they reached the tracks to the north of the cemetery, which was where they mixed what they needed to in their small bowls and then each turned, Ana walking toward the west and Connor toward the east, each chanting the spell that would construct the protective barrier.

The spell itself wasn't difficult at all, the time consuming part was walking the perimeter of the cemetery, making sure that they each covered their half circle line. By the time they had reached each other at the south tracks, just on the other side of where the Impala was parked, Dean and Sam had finished putting up sigils around on gravestones and the gate itself. "All done?" Sam questioned as he watched to two walk back toward the gate. He used a rag to wipe off the blood on his hand that he had used to the angel banishing sigil, now a they would need to do was slap their hand on top of it to activate it.

"Yeah, nothing's going to get in without one of us knowing, so we're pretty safe for now. You guys finish up too?" Connor had taken the supplies they used back toward his and Ana's bag, not missing how she continued to look over her shoulder.

Dean was watching his daughter carefully, her attention was partially on the conversation, but she kept glancing over her shoulder as if someone was watching her. "Hey, kid, you alright?" he questioned, wondering if she was sensing something out there.

Her attention was quickly pulled back to her father and she nodded slowly. She was becoming too paranoid, that had to be what was going on. It was the instant playback of her past that was messing with her. Anytime she wasn't actively doing something or distracting herself they would sink back into her main focus and if she closed her eyes for any amount of time she would see it all over again. "Yeah," she finally answered, "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine." Connor piped in as he stood up, raising an eyebrow at her. A slight panic was clearly being carried through their bond, but he had no idea why she would be freaking out right now, he couldn't sense anyone around them for miles. Everything had gone perfectly with the spell, the barrier was intact, and if there was an attack they had enough force between them and the angels that would come to their aid to hold their own. He watched as Ana glanced over her shoulder for the fifth time, "Do you feel something out there?"

Squinting, she turned her full body to face out toward the east where some trees spotted the land before turning into a massive patch of wooded area. "I…" she shook her head, red hair swaying back and forth, "I'm not sure." Blinking, the black void behind her eyelids was filled with Brandon's face each time her eyes closed and she began to shake slightly.

"Ana?" Connor walked over to her, moving to stand in front of her. "What is it?" he reached to grab gently on to her shoulders, hoping the contact would calm her down.

"No!" She screamed out, jumping away from him and pushing his hands away in one swift movement. With a quick shake of her head, as if to clear out the bad memories, she looked up at Connor to see hurt and worry etched across his face. "I… I don't know if something's out there, I just feel like we're not alone." she answered.

"I'm not sensing anything, Ana…" Connor didn't move to touch her or get closer to her, "Are you sure that you're actually sensing something or does this have to do with what Laylah did to you?"

"I don't know!" She snapped loudly, walking backwards away from her family, each man watching her with their own look of concern. "I don't know." she repeated softly, stopping only when the backs of her legs came in contact with a gravestone.

Dean took a couple of steps in her direction, her body was trembling, her eyes weren't focusing on any of them and seemed wild, "Ana, you need to talk to us about what happened." he kept his voice soft and low, hoping that somehow they could get through to her before it got too much worse. Not only was she worrying him, but they wouldn't survive if they were attacked and she was being distracted by whatever was going on in her head.

"No." she shook her head and rubbed a hand across her face, "I'm fine." The words were said as a signal for the conversation to end, but as she pushed off of the gravestone and walked past her father, he stepped in her way.

"Damn it, Anastasia, you are not fine. From what I can tell you're almost as far from fine as you can possibly get." He argued, tone harsher, "There is too much going on for you to keep this all bottled up. It's obviously affecting you and we can't afford for something to distract you like this."

Ana shoved passed him, "I'm not distracted, I'm completely focused on what is going on right here."

Connor scoffed, "Right, because if that were true you wouldn't have to question if there was something out there. You would _know._ Something is bothering you, which is not surprising at all, but you can't ignore it forever."

"Of course something is bothering me! You saw what happened!" She finally snapped, a red hot rage boiling through her veins that none of them would just drop the subject and let her deal with it on her own. "In the short amount of time the ritual was going, how many times did you watch it happen? Twice? Three times maybe?"

"Twice." He informed her, remembering both times with extreme clarity.

Ana laughed darkly, "You were there for ten minutes max. I was being tortured for hours." she looked at each man in turn, "There's nothing like watching a four year old version of yourself being tortured, _burned_ , over and over again. Every time I close my eyes I see his face, I feel the burns all over again, like they're fresh." Looking away she shook her head, "There's nothing you guys can do, that's why I didn't want to talk about it, because you," she turned to look at Dean, "feel the need to fix every problem that comes your way and you," she turned to Sam, "would give me those damn sad puppy eyes for hell knows how long." As she turned to Connor, she took in a deep breath, "You already knew, you can feel every emotion that is running through my body, you _saw_ what happened, and because of that I thought I might get a little understanding from you that this is something that _needs to be left alone!"_ Ana snapped, the volume of her voice close to yelling. All of her senses being overloaded by memories and the fleeting presence that she swore she could feel outside of the protective circle was making her lose her patience. Raising her eyes to the thick line of trees in the distance, she squinted at them as if it would help her see whatever was out there, but part of her was questioning if something was even out there at all.

"Ana, what is it?" Sam asked, turning to look in the direction that she was before turning back to her with a questioning look, "You keep looking that way."

Connor walked over to her, pushing aside his worry about her current mental state as he looked into her eyes, "Show me." he instructed, wondering if she was indeed sensing something real out there or if this had something to do with how she was handling the trauma from her torture. With a sharp nod, Ana pulled her attention away from the trees and placed her fingertips on Connor's temples, transferring the feeling and location of the presence she was sensing. "Do you know what it is?" he questioned as she pulled her touch away from him.

She shook her head, "It's there and then it's suddenly gone, but then it comes back in the same exact spot." the explanation had pulled her focus back to the trees, "Whatever it is feels... familiar."

"There's something out there?" Dean questioned, moving closer to the witches, if they were being watched they needed to keep close together in case of attack.

"For some reason I can't sense whatever is out there, but Ana can and her senses are picking up on it." Connor's focus slowly moved from the girl in front of him, to Dean, and back again, "It's strong if it can hide it's presence from me but light it up like a beacon for her."

Sam moved closer to the group and looked down at his niece, who's attention was still directed at the trees, "Do you think that they're trying to lure her out?" he directed the question at Connor since Ana seemed to be too focused on whatever was out there to listen to him.

"Maybe Ana's power is just stronger than whatever is out there and they're not able to hide from her like they are from you." Dean offered to Connor, watching as the male witch's mind tried to work through what was going on.

Though he didn't answer, he had heard both of the questions from the Winchester men, "Ana?" he spoke her name to pull her focus away from whatever was in the trees. When her eyes finally met his, he continued, "You said it feels familiar? Can you sense anything else?"

"Not initially." Her voice was soft as she closed her eyes and focused on what was out there, pushing away the glimpses of Brandon she was seeing to push her senses out toward the presence to get a better reading off of it. "It's dark, obviously not human…" she shook her head and opened her eyes to look up at Connor, "They're keeping me from seeing too much, unless I get closer or use more of my power to force past theirs, I'm not going to be able to get much else."

"And if you force your power past theirs it could cause them to attack, right?" Dean questioned, his hand itching to reach for his pistol, but he didn't. They had no idea what was actually out there and at this point the decision to interact was completely up to Ana.

The redhead paused for a moment, considering her father's words before nodding, "I'm going to assume that if I find the identity of this person that they will attack or something equally as bad. We don't have the best luck with getting out of situations like this without putting up a fight."

Before anyone could say anything more there was the sound of wings around them, Castiel and Gabriel standing just on the outside of their little group. Sam raised an eyebrow at them, "We have up sigils to hide our location from demons and angels, how did you find us?" he questioned, knowing that he and Dean drew them right so logically neither angel should have been able to find them.

Gabriel scoffed and raised an eyebrow at Sam, "Like I haven't put tracking sigils all over your bodies."

Sam and Dean shared a look, both ready to tear the archangel a new one, but Castiel held up a hand to silence them, "Because Ana's not actively trying to hide her location and no one has bound her power, Gabriel has the ability to locate her."

"You do?" Ana asked, with a furrowed brow, "Is it because of you stashing your grace in me?" she was slowly learning that because she had housed his grace for so long that she held some sort of weird connection with the archangel. So far they had figured out that he was more attuned to her mental prayers, whether they were directed at him or not, and that apparently he could track her.

"You ruin all of the fun, Cassie." Gabriel chided his little brother before turning to answer Ana, "Yes, to both questions. Since my grace spent so much time holed up in your body, it's very familiar with your soul so it makes it extra easy for me to find you… You know, unless your powers are on locked down because of the bitch that was my sister."

Dean shook his head, "Okay, this is all very interesting, but I'm sure you guys can talk about this later. Did you two find out who's heading this plan to open the cage?"

"The faction of angels that is working to do so isn't any where in Heaven and we can't get a reading on their location. Though we have come to the conclusion that whoever is in charge is most likely _not_ an angel." Castiel answered, gaze flicking out toward the trees that Ana continued to glance at.

Sam looked between Cas and Ana with a concerned look, "So, a demon? That's our next guess, right?"

Gabriel nodded, "Probably another higher ranking one that thinks releasing Lucifer will work out well for them." he caught Castiel and Ana's attention being focused somewhere behind him, "Earth to Ana." he waved his hands around, drawing her attention to him, "What's up, princess?"

"Is it still out there?" Connor asked Ana, wondering if it was and if so, why neither angel could sense it either. They each held enough power to sense almost anything.

Ana shook her head, "It disappeared once they showed up, I've been waiting for it to come back, but it hasn't."

"What are they talking about?" Gabriel asked, flicking his gaze back and forth between Sam and Dean, knowing that it was best to not try to get answers out of Ana or Connor when they were talking like they were now. Once they're bodies were close together and Connor was completely focused on what was going on with the female witch, there was little that could break the attention that they held for one another.

Dean glanced at the witches, "Ana's been sensing something in the trees that Connor can't." he explained, glancing to both angels, waiting for one of them to have answers.

Gabriel turned in the direction that Cas and Ana had been focused on, "Well whatever it was isn't there anymore. You thinking it's a hostile? I wouldn't be too worried, the barrier spell that Connor and Ana put up is really strong."

"Speaking of that, how did you two get in without breaking it?" Sam questioned, it was easy to forget about the spell that the witches had put in place since he couldn't see it and unlike the rest of the group neither he or Dean could sense it.

"The barrier is like an extension of our power, in some strange way it recognized that these two are trusted and allowed them in without breaking it." Ana explained, "That's why we both prefer to use this specific spell. I could cast it without anyone in the circle with me and it would let in anyone that's trusted, while keeping out enemies."

Dean nodded his approval, "You know, this witch stuff has its perks." he offered, looking over at his brother who was giving him a bitch face, "What?"

"It's back." Ana spoke quickly, looking to each angel to see if they would be able to sense what she was.

"Demon." Castiel spoke, turning to look to Gabriel who gave him a quick nod and they both flew away to go see who was watching them.

They were gone mere seconds before Ana sighed, "It's gone again." she informed the rest of the group just as the angels were joining them again.

"Well they obviously don't want us to know who they are." Gabriel muttered, glancing at Ana, "Were you able to get anything else off of them?"

She shook her head, "I didn't even get that it was a demon, just that it wasn't human and not the best of person."

"So this demon is out here watching us for whatever reason and obviously doesn't want anything to do with you guys." Dean gestured to the two angels, "Maybe this is the one in charge? Staking us out to see what they have to go up against before they can get to the gate?"

Castiel nodded, "It is a logical conclusion and it would be wise of them to size up their enemy before attacking. We should prepare ourselves for the possibility that we will be in battle any minute now." he instructed, dropping his angel blade from his sleeve.

Ana quickly turned toward the gate, ready to grab a few more weapons out of her bag since they weren't really sure the kind of force that may be headed their way. Just as she was about to reach down toward her bag, a bright white light took up her vision accompanied by a stabbing pain that vibrated through her whole head, causing her to cry out as she dropped to her knees and curl into herself. There had never been any pain with her visions and that was her first clue that what she was seeing wasn't naturally caused, but what she saw was extremely possible of happening and it caused her heartbeat to accelerate.

The group of men had quickly moved to surround Ana once they heard her cry of pain. Connor and Dean knelt on the ground next to her while the other three stood and kept their attention on the surrounding area, waiting for someone to attack. "Ana, what's going on, talk to me." Dean spoke as she whimpered, clearly in pain.

Connor swore and placed his hands on the side of her face, he tried to use his magic to get a glimpse of what was happening but he was pushed back by some sort of wall that was constructed around her mind. "It's a vision."

"She has never had a reaction like that from a vision." Sam glanced over his shoulder, knowing that none of the visions he had could have compared to what she was dealing with if the look on her face was anything to go by.

"That's because it's not a naturally occurring one." Connor clenched his jaw before looking to Dean, "Someone has forced this vision to happen and because of that her magic is trying to fight against it, but it's not working."

Ana sucked in a deep breath and sat straight up, eyes opening and focusing on the two faces level with hers. "No. No, no, no. This cannot be happening." she stood up and looked around the cemetery, "We need to get out of here. Now."

"Woah, slow down there, princess." Gabriel couldn't help but to notice the frantic look on the girl's face, "What did you see?"

"That doesn't matter! We have to leave." She tried to plead with them, there was no way that the vision she just had could come true. A vibrating feeling passed through her body and she whimpered, "The barrier is down."

Connor stood and reached for Ana, whose body was trembling in a way he had never felt before, "What did you see, what are we up against?"

The redhead just shook her head, "It's too late. He's here."

"Who is here?" Dean asked, pulling out his pistol and taking on a defensive stance in front of his daughter.

Ana just continued to shake her head, as if it would make everything go away, as if the simple action could stop what was about to happen next. Slow tears streamed down her face as she fought to keep herself together, but it was useless once she saw a figure heading in their direction from the east, where the presence had been not long before.

Connor had to wrap his arms around her to keep her upright as she cried and shook, eyes fixated on the form of the man that was walking their direction, the closer he got the easier it was to make out who it was, though the majority of the group didn't recognize him. He stopped far enough away from the group to make a retreat if needed, his hazel eyes focused on the broken girl in the middle of the protective circle of men. His eyes turned pitch black as a devilish grin spread on his lips, "Are you ready to have a little fun, Ana?" he questioned with a wave of his hand.

There was a muffled scream has Ana buried her face into Connor's chest. She lifted up her shirt to show that the marks that had been left from her torture as a child looked like they had just been inflicted. "Stop, please… stop." she begged, every ounce of training leaving her body as the pain took over and her mind tried to wrap around the face she was seeing across the cemetery.

"If you fight against me, you'll get punished." The demon's warning was a sentence that had been branded on the inside of her head since she was four and she wanted nothing more than to be able to fight against him, but she was broken. Between the torture from Laylah, the constant replay of it all in her head, and the vision she had just had, there was no control left in her body.

"Who the hell is this bastard." Dean growled the words, wanting nothing more than to take a shot at the demon but he wouldn't when it seemed that he had some sort of control over his daughter.

The demon turned his attention to Dean, an evil grin still on his lips, "Oh, Dean, I thought you would have figured it out by now. You know, they say that you humans never forget a face, that each person you ever see is kept in your head for use in things like dreams. This face," he patted his own cheek, "is something I've had for fifteen years now and it's one that our dear little Ana will never forget. Laylah made extra sure of that, didn't she?" Brandon turned his attention back to Ana, "Oh yes, this is going to be fun."


	32. Chapter 32

_A/N: Whose ready for some action?! I honestly have been itching to write this chapter for a while and I'm so glad it's finally here! A lot of stuff is about to go down, I mean, I did end the last chapter with a demon entering so of course something bad is bound to happen, but it's also really awesome and not the only action that's going to happen in this chapter. You'll see ;) Enough of my rambling, I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

 _Jim: Thank you so much! I'm glad you like it :)_

 _eldaearien: The twist ending of that chapter is something I've been planning for a while, I'm really glad you like it :) As always thanks for the review._

It was then that it clicked for Dean and the rage that instantly filled his body was rival to any anger he had ever felt before. He was face to face with the person who had traumatized his daughter, the person that scared her skin, and it took every ounce of control he had in his body to not instantly attack the demon across the field from him. The soft cries of his daughter behind him and the presence of his brother standing next to him kept the eldest Winchester grounded, there were too many things that hadn't been considered for him to attack the demon across the cemetery. Years of hunting and going up against the strongest evils of the world had taught him that sometimes you had to think before you took on an enemy, this was one of those times.

Brandon looked over the group, assessing the hunters, angels, and witches as he had when he was hidden among the trees, "Is no one going to attack me?" he raised an eyebrow, "I've seen the attachment you all have to Ana and I've done a very bad thing to her. Where's the hostility, guys?" He took a couple of steps forward, eyes focused on the witches in the center of the group, "Especially you," his eyes focused on Connor, "I've heard some stories about you that would make their skin crawl." he gestured between Sam and Dean, who fought the urge to turn and give the witch a questioning look. When no one moved, Brandon sighed, "Well, I guess I'll just have to make the first move." he offered, snapping his fingers, the group was instantly surrounded by both angels and demons.

The group of six was easily outnumbered four to one by the enemy surrounding them, though with Ana still crying in Connor's arms they wouldn't need to use force on her, though they probably would just for kicks. The men and women surrounding them began to move all at once and their group responded in turn, the two hunters and angels running straight into battle while Connor placed Ana between his back and the devil's gate so he could protect her.

Each man held his own for a few minutes, between the angels and demons both attacking it was clear that they weren't going to make it out of this one completely unscathed. Sam had been quickly disarmed by a demon and was now being held still by the angel blade that was pressed along the front of his neck. As his eyes flicked around the cemetery to find his brother, he watched as Dean was forced on to his knees by a demon, his brother's face twisted in pain. Searching again, Sam's eyes landed on the fight that Gabriel was currently engaged in, taking on three of his siblings and a demon. Though he was an archangel, Gabe was being hit in every direction and it was no surprise to Sam when they were finally able to disarm the angel and keep him pinned in his place by two angel blades pointed at his throat. When Sam's eyes landed on Castiel he was already in the same position as Gabriel. He wished he could check on Connor and Ana, but both witches were behind him and the angel blade at his throat gave him no room to move his head.

Connor had fought off three attacks by demons, each seeming determined just to get him out of the way to get to Ana, but he fought them all off. It wasn't until Brandon was standing in front of him that he lost that battle. "Did you really think you could protect her from me?" The demon questioned as he wrapped his hand around the witch's throat and pulled him away from Ana, carrying Connor away as if he weighed nothing. As Brandon watched Ana fall to the ground, body shaking, face hidden in her hands as she cried, he smirked, "And this is supposed to be one of the most powerful witches to ever live. Pathetic. I guess we can just kill him now and not have to worry about either of them being able to stop our plans." He directed the last statement to the army that had fallen under his command.

Ana could feel Connor's pain filtering through their connection and it pulled her focus out of her own mind, eyes lifting to find out what had been happening around her to cause him pain. It was then that she realized how much she had missed while she was fighting against her fear and memories. Her eyes went wide as she saw her father doubled over in pain as a demon held him down while Sam, Castiel, and Gabriel were all held by angel blades. When her eyes finally landed on Connor and the hand wrapped around his throat, everything that was torturing her mind at that moment vanished and all she could focus on was him and the rest of her family. She watched as Brandon's hand tightened around Connor's throat, cutting off all oxygen while also using his demonic power to cause internal bleeding among Connor's organs. "No!" Ana yelled, quickly standing up and pushing off of the gate. She could feel her magic responding to her emotions, the desperate need to protect her family taking hold, and she knew that none who stepped in her way would be an issue. As if to prove that point an angel and demon both made their way toward her but before either were close enough to lay a hand on her Ana threw them back without lifting a hand, tossing them yards away with just a thought.

Brandon watched as the young witch walked his direction, not even flinching as she threw the two out of her way. The closer she grew to where he stood with Connor, a warm golden light slowly appeared, encompassing her body in a way he had never seen before and because he didn't know what it meant, it sent a sliver of fear through him. "One more step and I will kill him." He warned, tightening his grip around Connor's throat, the witch's trachea on the verge of snapping under the pressure from it.

"You can try." Ana challenged as she threw her power at him with enough force to move a two story house, knowing that she would need it to make the demon's hold on her soul mate loosen. Her plan worked and she watched as Brandon was thrown back a couple of feet, dropping a very still and not breathing Connor to the ground. Taking a moment to assess the shape the rest of her family was in, she spun to examine them before waving her circling her hand around in front of her, palm down, and forcefully pushing it toward the ground as if something was resisting the movement. Once her arm was fully lengthened toward the ground, all of the demons and angels dropped toward the ground, crying out in pain. The look on her uncle's face was her first warning and the power that was radiating right behind her was the second, he hand flew up and with a twist of her wrist there was a thin, but effective, barrier between herself and Brandon. "Gabriel, Connor needs to be healed." she told the angel as she spun around to face the demon who was breaking through her barrier with a wicked grin.

"You're not as powerful as they say you are, Ana." Brandon taunted once he had completely torn through her barrier without lifting a finger.

"This isn't even half of my power." She warned, returning his grin with a cocky one of her own as she lifted him into the air without lifting a hand. "I'm holding all of your little demon and angel buddies down without even giving it much thought, imagine what I could do if I put a little more focus on it." she offered nonchalantly, shrugging as a chorus of screams filled the space around them. "And while I'm doing that, I can even make their screams silent." Her eyes were focused hard on Brandon as she kept him motionless in the air, watching as a flash of fear sparked in his eyes as the screams were stopped, even though it was clear that each angel and demon was still making the noise. "Then there's you, who can't even move a muscle, but no. I'm definitely not as powerful as I'm said to be." Ana's eyes quickly moved to Gabriel and Connor as she watched the angel heal the witch. Once she was assured that Connor was alright, her gaze moved back to the demon hovering at least four feet off of the ground in front of her. "No one comes after my family and gets away with it." she warned, using her magic to lift every discarded angel blade in the cemetery and aiming it at him, moving them so that they were all level with his torso, "Castiel, there's no longer a soul in this body, is there?" she asked the angel, knowing that if there was she wouldn't be able to go through with what she had planned to do next.

The angel in question moved to stand at her side, "No, it seems that the human that was Brandon has been dead for some time." he offered, able to see that there was no longer even a trace of the human soul that had once inhabited the body.

"Good." Ana stated before moving the blades so that they pierced into the demon's body, just enough to cause pain but not enough to kill him. She held the blades in place as Brandon screamed out in pain, though the scream quickly turned into a dark chuckle.

"Oh, Ana, I never knew you had this in you, if I had I would have molded you into my little helper instead of torturing you." Brandon grinned down at her. "Such a waste."

Ana glared at him, shoving the blades in just a bit further and causing him to scream again. "Sam? Exorcise him."

Sam and Dean, with his brother's help, move to stand at Ana's side opposite the one that Cas was on. "If you exorcism him, he'll just go back to Hell." Dean grunted, his left arm wrapped around his torso as if to keep it together.

Cas moved to stand next to Dean and healed him quickly before turning to look at Ana, "If you exorcism him, he will just come back and torment you again.

Ana shook her head, her peripheral vision catching movement as Gabriel helped Connor to his feet, both of the men turned and walked in their direction. "Just trust me, I'm not letting him get away." she told her family, her gaze falling back on Brandon.

"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanic potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii…" Sam began to exorcise the demon, watching his niece to see exactly what she planned on doing once the demon was out of the body.

As the black smoke began to filter out of the demon's mouth Connor moved to stand next to Ana, who offered him her hand, wanting him to aid her in what she was about to do next. Without question he placed his hand in her's and felt their magic link in the way it had during their last battle with demons, " _Socraigh an tine, sruthán an olc_." The incantation rolled off of her tongue with ease and as more black smoke came out of the demon's mouth, it was quickly set on fire. Though the blaze itself seemed rather normal, the power that radiated off of it as it burned the last of the black smoke was anything but normal.

Sam and Dean exchanged a look, in all of their years of hunting and researching they had never heard of anything like that being done before. When they both turned their attention back to Ana, they noticed the slightly solemn look on her face.

Ana shook her head pulling the angel blades out of the body before lowering it to the ground and turning her attention on the angels and demons who were still silently screaming on the ground in pain. "I'm going to kill them, unless you two want to handle the angels that is." she looked to Cas and Gabe, not wanting to kill their siblings if they were willing to deal with them.

The angels shared a look, one that was slowly becoming closer to the ones Sam and Dean shared, "They're not worth it at this point." Gabriel muttered sadly, though he held no special place in his heart for the majority of his siblings he still hated to know that they were being put to death for such a stupid cause.

With a quick wave of her hand, she positioned the angel blades so that they were aimed at their enemies before sending them shooting through the air, making sure to bury each in the heart of the angel or demon it was aimed at. Once she was certain that they were all dead, she turned to look at her father and uncle, feeling both sets of eyes glued to her. "What?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow at the two men who were watching her with confused expressions.

"You're.. uh...glowing?" Dean offered, not really sure how else to explain the light that was still around her.

"Glowing?" She asked, sounding slightly shocked as she looked down at her body, seeing the light for the first time. "Uh.. Connor? Is this normal?"

Connor shrugged, "I've never heard of a witch glowing. Gabe? Cas? Any explanation?" he looked over at the two angels as they looked over Ana as well.

"Power surge?" Gabriel offered, "You did just access a portion of your power that you've rarely tapped into, maybe this is how it's manifesting itself?"

Ana looked up at the confused expressions that were aimed her way, "So what we're saying here is that we don't know _why_ I'm glowing, but I _am._ " When no one argued against her point, she sighed slightly and lifted her hands to look over them. "Will it stop?" Again there was no response and she dropped her hands to her sides in frustration. "Alright, well since no one has answers about this, why don't we move on to things we can actually take care of right now." the offer was meant to take everyone's attention off of her.

"Right…" Sam nodded, turning to look at Brandon's dead body, "So, was that the leader of this whole thing? Have we put a stop to the plan to unleash Michael and possibly Lucifer on to the earth?"

Dean shook his head, "It's never this easy, not that it was particularly easy anyway, but normally there's a much bigger fight for something like this. Why would that change now?"

Ana nodded, "The demon was powerful, but I don't think he was leading all of this." she offered, refusing to say the name even though he was dead. "I've got an idea." Moving away from Connor's side, she walked toward the body on the ground and took in a deep breath, reminding herself that she had killed him and he couldn't do anything else to hurt her. Taking a knee next to the body, she placed a hand on his forehead and spoke a soft chant before she was allowed to see some of the last images that were stuck inside of the parts of the brain that were still living. She shifted through what had just happened quickly, pushing back further, hoping for a glimpse of whoever was handing out orders. The images flew past in her mind as she tried to find something, _anything_ that would lead them in the right direction and she held back the sound of triumph as she finally found what she was looking for. The memory showed a woman in a long black dress, blonde hair falling like a sheet straight down her back, and brown eyes that could only be darker when they were black. There was no name and since the body was no longer living, the brain quickly dying, she couldn't get anything else before Ana had to pull her magic back. Standing up, the young witch looked to her family, the men standing there waiting to see what she found, "A woman. I don't have a name, but she _is_ a demon, I could tell that much."

"Well at least we have something to go off now." Sam looked around at the dead bodies that littered the ground, "We should do something about all of this." he added, glancing up at his brother.

Gabriel snapped his fingers, causing all of the bodies to disappear before them. "So, all we've done here is stopped the first wave of attacks. There will be more coming if the bitch who is in charge is still alive."

Ana took a moment as the men spoke about what their next move should be, blocking them out she focused on her power, trying to pull it in so she wouldn't glow anymore. She figured that if her magic was causing it she would be able to get a hold of it and make it go away, which is exactly what she did. With a pleased smile she turned to look at her family, "I think our first move should be to put up a better protection around the gate." she offered, causing everyone's eyes to fall back to her as she walked over to stand with them.

"Hey, you look human again." Dean commented, "Or as human as you get at least." he teased, grinning at her.

"Gee, thanks dad." She muttered, sending a glare his direction before turning her attention to Connor, "What do you say we step up our magic game and put up the strongest protection spell we have."

Connor slightly cocked an eyebrow at her, "Even the strongest spell I know won't be able to hold everything off."

"That's where you're wrong. I know one that will hold off just about everything, but it's kind of frowned upon and may or may not put our lives in danger." Ana offered, not seeming to care much at the last part, but out of the corner of her eye she could see her father frowning.

"And how exactly will this spell put your lives in danger, Anastasia?" Dean grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and waiting for his daughter to answer his question.

The girl rolled her eyes, "It just links us to the barrier we put around the gate. So it stays up as long as at least one of us is still alive, but if someone breaks through it… we both die." she brought her hands up by her shoulders and moved them up and down as if she was weighing something, "Which to me sounds like our best bet, so why don't we get started." Ana grabbed Connor's hand and tried to pull him back toward the gate, but he wouldn't budge.

"No way in Hell am I even going to acknowledge the idea you just offered because you and I both know why we haven't used it yet." Connor pulled his hand away from her, becoming actually angry with the witch in front of him for the first time. "I'm not letting you perform a spell like that."

Throwing her hands up in the air in frustration, she grumbled before pointing a finger in his face, "You are being so hypocritical right now!"

"Just because I've crossed that line doesn't mean that you should too, Ana!" he snapped and shook his head, "I'm not letting you do it and you can't do it without me, so it looks like you're screwed."

The other four members of their makeshift family stood back and watched as the couple snapped at one another, "Are they actually fighting? Not just puppy love arguing like last time, but legitimately fighting?" Dean asked his brother in shock. The fight he was watching unfold in front of him was nothing like the spat they had at the bunker.

"If the fact that I'm really uncomfortable standing here and watching it is anything to go by, then yes, they're actually fighting." Sam nodded, his eyes glued to the couple as they continued to argue, their voices growing slowly in volume.

"And to think someone in the universe thought us being soulmates would work out?" She threw the insult at him, "I'm not a child Connor, you can't really think that you can treat me like one when you're against something but the moment a decision is made and you're pleased go back to treating me like an equal. That's not how relationships work."

Connor scoffed, "Oh, so now we're in a relationship again?" he shook his head, letting out an aggravated sound, "That's not even the point here. The point _is_ that this magic is in a pretty shady grey area that you've never dealt with before and I would like to keep it that way. There are other spells we can use."

"Is this argument going to find a result or are they just yelling because of some human emotion I've yet to grasp the concept of?" Castiel asked, not taking his eyes off of the couple just in front of them.

Gabriel scoffed, "There's really no telling, Cassie." he answered while taking a step forward, "Hello? Guys? Yeah, we're still here and we need to either set up some protection on the gate or figure out what else we can do to stop Mikey and Luci getting out of the cage."

"My idea _would_ protect the gate." Ana stated, shooting a nasty look Connor's direction and crossing her hands over her chest, "You can't honestly be worried about me crossing into a 'grey area' when you've been there before and you're fine. Come on, you're talking to the girl still riding the fear that she'll go dark side and I'm not even concerned about this!"

"What if it's not you I'm worried about?!" Connor snapped, voice raising to a level he'd yet to reach with these people around. "Look, this isn't something we need to discuss with an audience. Just come to terms with the fact that I'm not going to do this and think of a different spell to use."

Ana squinted at him as if she were trying to read his mind, find out what exactly about this was making him so upset, because she knew that he couldn't be worried about himself. Connor had done some questionable magic before they met and had told her all about it, plus he did that spell while she was being held captive by Laylah so it couldn't be himself that he was worried about. If he wasn't worried about the two of them, then who could he be worrying about? The spell wouldn't affect anyone else. She raised an eyebrow at him finally, "If it's not me and it's not you, then who are you worried about?" she took a step closer to him so that they were almost standing chest to chest, "If you don't tell me I'm just going to assume that you're making stuff up to get out of this for whatever reason."

He looked down at her, really wishing she would just drop the subject and move on to a different spell, but the determination in her eyes was something he was familiar with and he knew arguing with any Winchester when they had that look in their eye meant that it was never going to work out in his favor. Glancing over his shoulder at the four men behind him who were clearly not missing a moment of their arguing, he sighed and shook his head, this wasn't something they needed to talk about in front of her family. Moving around her, Connor made his way toward the gate, "We're doing a different spell, Ana."

Her jaw clenched as she made eye contact with her father, "Nothing stays secret in this family long, Connor, they'll find out eventually. So you might as well share with the whole class who you're worried about this spell affecting."

"Our future child, Anastasia!" Connor snapped, spinning around to look at her, the anger in his eyes dissolving slowly to a worry and hurt Ana had never seen in the time they had known each other, "The prophecy says that there's a possibility of any future child we have going 'dark side'," he quoted her, wanting what he was saying to sink into her head so she would understand why he was so against it. "You've never ventured anywhere away from the light side of magic. What happens if once or twice you do and adding that on top of what I've done is the pin in the grenade that will be our child's magic?!" Taking in a deep breath, he cast his eyes to the ground, "I've done enough bad for the two of us, we don't need to chance it further by having you develing in darker magic."

The words that were yelled into the silence of the cemetery hit Ana like a freight train, she was so taken back by what he had just said that she didn't even know how to respond. Frozen in place, Ana just stared across the space between them and wondered how he could blame himself for something that hadn't even happened yet, that may not ever happen.

"Well that got real, fast." Gabriel muttered just loud enough for the men around him to hear.

Sam and Dean shared a quick look before their eyes turned back toward the still form of Ana, "That was kind of harsh." Dean commented to his brother, waiting for his daughter to react, but she just continued to stand there.

"You think that what they do with their magic will affect their child?" Sam questioned, aiming it more toward the angels since he knew that Dean had as much understanding about the whole thing as he did.

Gabriel shook his head, "I've never seen the parentage of any witch affect the way said witch turns out in life. Most of the time they're just born leaning one way or the other, or they're raised around one side. In cases like Connor, the beginning of their teaching is one and then they're introduced to the other side via other means."

"It is very unlikely that any magic Ana or Connor do will affect any children they have." Castiel agreed. "That is, unless Ana performs extremely dark magic while pregnant, I've seen one case where it has tainted the soul of the baby in the womb. _Extremely_ dark magic." he emphasized.

Dean scoffed, "Well that's never going to happen. I've told her from the start that she's too good to go dark side and I don't see that ever changing."

Gabriel nodded in agreement, "Her soul is brighter than most I've come across, that's one of the reasons I chose her to protect my grace while I was on the bench. It's instinct for her to avoid anything darker than what she's considering now."

While their conversation continued Ana still hadn't moved or spoken, the only sign that she was even still alive from their point of view was the slight rise and fall of her shoulders as she breathed. Dean was beginning to worry, he'd never seen her so still and it couldn't be a good sign. Then suddenly, as if a switch flipped somewhere in her mind, her muscles tensed and she gave her arms a small shake. "We need to put a spell up around the gate." he heard her say in a monotone voice before walking toward where her bag lay on the ground.

Ana moved past Connor without looking at him, she had one focus and it was making sure that nothing else got to the gate before they found a more permanent solution to keeping it closed. " _Balla bán._ It should be strong enough to keep most of anything that comes while we're away out." She told him while grabbing the ingredients out that they would need.

"It will only keep those with ill will out." He said, not turning around to look at her, not knowing if he could stand seeing the emotionless expression on her face again. While she had been standing still, Ana had successfully put up an extremely thick wall in their connection so that neither of them could feel the other and that itself had almost broken him. Connor had grown so used to having a sense of her in the back of his mind that with it completely gone he felt empty and lost.

"Well anyone that comes to set free the dynamic duo won't be exactly planning on rainbows and butterflies accompanying them, so I think it will work." She grabbed what she could out of her bag before moving on to his, "Plus, it's geared to focus on what the casting witch is trying to protect, I think it's our best bet."

Connor nodded, "You're right. Do we have all of the ingredients we'll need?" as he spoke he slowly turned around to see her compiling their stuff on the ground.

Ana's only response was a curt nod as she grabbed the last thing they needed out of his bag. "It's all here. Let's get this over with so we can find the bitch that's trying to screw over the world." she spoke as she began to mix things in one of the many brass bowls they had between the two of them.

Dean sighed and rubbed a hand over his face before pushing it through his hair, "Things are just going to be cheery for a while, aren't they?" he questioned sarcastically, not really looking for an answer, knowing that they all understood that neither of the witches was going to be much fun to be around after that. The only question was how exactly this was going to affect Ana. It was clear that Connor had been harboring the idea for a while, but adding the fear that something she could possibly do would affect some future child of theirs _on top of_ everything that had just happened with Brandon was probably not going to end well for the young female witch.

 _A/N(2): This chapter ended up a little shorter than I'm pleased with, but it simply needed to end there. I LOVE getting feedback from you guys and the reviews I've gotten over the last few chapters have been great! Don't be shy, I really enjoy seeing what you guys think! Thanks for reading :)_


	33. Chapter 33

_A/N: Hello hello hello my lovely readers! First off I want to say a big thank you to the favorites and follows, it's been awhile since I've said it and I've gained some in that time, so again thank you so much! :) Makes my heart happy. Also, huge apology for how long it took me to update. My son recently had surgery and things have been kind of crazy, but I should be able to keep up on my posts now. Let me know how you like it :)_

 _eldaearien: Your reviews always make me so happy and I appreciate that you take the time to write them :) Connor actually went from being someone I thought was only going to be around for a few chapters to this extremely in depth character that I'm just touching the basics of, so far at least. As things progress there will more explanation about Connor's actions and worries. I'm glad you enjoyed to showdown, I really wanted Ana to step up her game and use her powers in a way she hasn't before. As always, thanks for the review!_

After Connor and Ana had completed the spell, the devil's gate was protected enough for the group to feel comfortable leaving it. They had decided to go to the bunker because they would have access to a bigger selection of books than they would at any other library. It was decided that the angels would fly and that the rest would teleport, Connor and Ana being able to transport the Impala with them as long as they were sitting in it. So with Dean and Sam sitting up front with the witches in back, they quickly focused their magic and within seconds they were looking at the inside of the garage attached to the bunker. Without saying a word to anyone, Ana got out of the car, grabbed her bags out of the trunk and headed toward the door that led inside. She was still trying to process everything that had gone down while they were at the cemetery and there was a lot to think about.

Dean and Sam shared one of their infamous looks before getting out of the car, Connor following shortly behind them, "You need to go talk to her." Dean told Connor as he handed the witch his bags, not caring if he was overstepping some weird parent/boyfriend conversation line that wasn't supposed to be crossed, but they wouldn't be able to get much done if the couple was on the outs.

"She's obviously not in a talking mood." Connor muttered, grabbing his bag and turning away from the brothers to walk into the bunker.

"This is going to be fun." Sam muttered, grabbing his bag and waiting for Dean to grab his before shutting the trunk. "Think we should tell him what Gabriel and Cas said about it not being possible? I mean, it'd put his mind at ease and then maybe it would make it easier for him to go talk to her about it."

Dean shook his head, "Man, I don't know. Let's just see what we can find on this demon bitch and if it becomes too much we'll lock them in a room together until they figure it out." With the silent agreement between the two, they headed toward the door, ready to hit the books and find what they could on the demon leading the army to release Michael and Lucifer from the cage.

-A-

Ana walked through the bunker, straight into her bedroom, and then shut the door behind her. Dropping her bags to the floor, she leaned back against the door and slid down it until she was sitting on the ground. She wrapped her arms around her knees and rested her head back against the door, her mind replaying Connor's words from the cemetery. While considering their prophesied future child, Ana didn't consider that something they would do could be cause of whether or not that child turned out evil, but then again she hadn't spent much time worrying about it. There were other things that took precedent over something that wasn't happening right at that moment, hopefully they would have quite a while to figure out a way to ensure that their child wouldn't somehow destroy the world.

Before her thoughts could dig further into their future, there was a knock at her door. "Hey, Princess, group huddle in the library. We kind of need you since you're the only one who knows what the demon looks like." Gabriel's voice came through the door.

Standing up, Ana moved away from the door and opened it, looking at Gabriel with a slight frown. "Is he right? If I did something bad with my magic… would it affect my future child?"

The archangel sighed heavily, "No, Ana, not unless it was really bad. Like sacrificing a mass gathering of virgins bad. Look, I know you, I've seen your soul, and nothing you do is going to be what causes your child to become a force of evil. I have faith in both you _and_ Connor that any children you have will be raised right and won't be tempted by dark magic." he set a hand on her shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze, "Now, come on, we have a demon to find and fillet." Gabe wiggled his eyebrows at her and gestured with his arm for her to lead the way.

Ana gave a soft laugh as she walked out of her room, shutting the door behind her and heading down the hall toward the library. "Alright, let's find this bitch and put an end to this. I'm honestly really tired of dealing with big, end of the world, destruction of mankind crap." she turned to give her father and uncle a praising look, "I honestly don't know how the two of you have dealt with this so long."

"Drinking." Sam offered with a shrug, knowing that some days that's the only way they both kept going.

Dean nodded in agreement, "Lots and lots of drinking."

Ana laughed, the relief she felt about what Gabriel told her making her mood lighten. "So how do we go about finding a demon that we don't have a name for?" she looked around the room at the men that surrounded her, noticing that Connor seemed pretty upset still, they would have to talk soon since it seemed that no one had informed him that his assumption was wrong. Since they needed to focus on finding this demon, she did a small part of what she could to make him feel better and dropped the barrier she had put up in their connection. As his disappointed and all around depressing emotions flooded her mind, she took in a deep breath and pushed comforting feelings toward him, the action causing him to actually look at her like he had been avoiding. While she had been focused on that, Sam had been talking, but she hadn't been focusing on what he was saying until a name came across his lips. "Wait, you want to contact Crowley?" the shock was clear in her tone, "I've been around for like a year and a half, in that time you've been pretty set on not dealing with him again."

"Well, the fastest way of finding this demon will be to ask the King of Hell." Dean explained as if it was obvious, "It's not like he's going to be stupid enough to try anything while the six of us are all here, so I figure we're pretty safe."

Connor's eyes hadn't left Ana, but the rush of warmth he had felt from her when she dropped the barrier pulled him out of his own thoughts enough to focus on the task at hand, "So what's the plan? Are you going to summon him or just give him a call?"

Sam sighed, "If we summon him, he's just going to be pissy with us. He'll be of more help if we let him come on his own accord."

Dean pulled out his cellphone and flipped it around in his hand a minute before dialing the number, making sure that it was on speaker so everyone would be able to hear what was going on and he wouldn't have to repeat the conversation. The ringing suddenly stopped, "Squirrel, long time no chat. How are things going with the release of our favorite caged brothers?" the gravely British tone came over the phone.

"Of course you know about that. Any idea who the demon is running the whole thing?" Dean questioned, the look on his face less than thrilled about dealing with the man on the other end of the line.

"If I did, do you think that this thing would still be in the works? Releasing Lucifer is not on my bucket list for obvious reasons, but releasing Michael after he's spent this long in the cage with the devil? Avoiding that one like the plague." Crowley paused, "Well, this was a nice chat, must be going. I have a cage to keep locked."

"Wait!" Ana called out, moving to stand by her father, "We have a lead, but I can't do anything with it myself."

There was a soft chuckle from the phone's speaker, "Anastasia, I presume? You've made quite the name for yourself, dear, I've heard about all of your nifty tricks… What exactly is this lead you have?"

Ana rolled her eyes, demons were such a pain and she honestly didn't want to have to deal with Crowley, but this was their best chance at getting an answer fast. "I was able to pull a face from the memory of one of your little rebels, but not a name. You're supposed to be the King of Hell, right? Figure if anyone could put a name to that face it would be you."

"Oh, Anastasia, I'm flattered. I suppose I could give it a go, as long as you put an end to this. I have enough problems to worry about without the possibility of tweedle-dee and tweedle-dumb being released from captivity." Crowley offered, trying to act as if it wasn't something he was extremely worried about, but Ana had seen enough of the demon to know that he _was_.

"Well then stop trying to flirt with me like you do my dad and meet me outside the bunker." She told him with a roll of her eyes and just catching the look her father sent her direction.

There was a sound like a small growl before the King of Hell grumbled something that no one could make out, "Already here, love." He finally spoke through the phone.

Ana made a disgusted face, "Don't call me that." she told him before teleporting outside and standing face to face with yet another person that she had first seen in her visions. "Crowley."

"Anastasia." The demon king slightly bowed his head to the young witch, taking in her appearance quickly before his eyes landed back on her's. "I presume you're going to use your powers to show me the demon you're looking for, or are we waiting on a sketch artist?"

There was a wave of power just next to her and Ana looked up to see Connor at her side, Gabriel and Castiel appearing just behind Crowley, each with a Winchester man in tow. "Enough of the witty banter." she gave him a forced smile and took a step closer to him, "Ready?" the question was rhetorical as she reached out and placed her fingertips on his temples, forcing the image she held in her mind into the demon in front of her. Focusing on Crowley, she watched a moment before the realization of who the demon was clicked in his head, "Who is she?" Ana asked as she pulled her hands away and took a step back.

"Old friend. Crossroad demon, I believe she's going by Jade nowadays." Crowley sent a glance over his shoulder at Sam and Dean, "She's not the strongest demon out there, but the witch," he paused, turning his attention back to Ana, "no offense darling, has been around almost as long as I have and won't be the easiest to put an end to."

Ana shook her head, dealing with demons in a way that didn't involve killing them was something she wasn't going to get used to very quickly, thankfully they hadn't been dealing with the King much since she'd been around. "Alright, so it's not going to be easy, but I can almost guarantee that it's going to be easier than taking down Michael or Lucifer, or both." she crossed her arms, "How do we find her?"

"You know, Squirrel, you can't tell at all that she shares part of your DNA." Crowley commented sarcastically, his eyes not moving from the youngest Winchester. "A summoning spell would do the trick, but I have the feeling that she'll find you soon enough. Might just want to wait this one out and make sure your little brigade of toy soldiers is ready to take on some casualties."

Connor scoffed next to Ana, giving Crowley an amused look as Ana closed the space between them once again, "Obviously you're a little slow or you're just not doing the math right on this one. With two angels and two witches in this _little brigade_ there's very little chance that anyone will die, except anyone that comes up against us. You might want to remember that for future reference." The young witch gave him a condescending pat on the shoulder before teleporting back into the bunker, followed shortly by Connor.

Crowley slowly turned around to look at the angels and the remaining Winchesters, "Looks like you two wasted no time teaching her the ways of the family." He looked over each of the hunters before giving a slight nod of his head, "Moose, Squirrel, it's been nice to see you again. Don't die while taking out Jade and her army, yeah?" he didn't wait for a response before vanishing from their sight.

The brothers shared a look before walking toward the door that led into the bunker, figuring that the witches had gone in there when they teleported away and it didn't take them long to find the two standing by one of the tables in the library, looking over a book sitting on the table between them. "What's going on?" Sam questioned, slightly recognizing the book as one of Ana's personal belongings.

"Ana had a pretty genius idea and we're looking over some options to see if we can make it work." Connor explained, not taking his eyes off of the book, "Do you mind?" he directed the question at Ana as he reached for the book, hands hovering over the book. When she nodded, he picked it up and began to flip through the pages.

Dean walked down the table and took a seat, "You had a _genius_ idea?" he questioned, looking up at his daughter with a quirked eyebrow.

Ana glared at him, "Don't act so surprised, it's actually something you'd probably try doing. So in a weird way, I think you should be proud." she explained with a grin.

"Uh oh." Sam commented, walking over to Connor to glance at the book, "I'm sure if it's something Dean would try, I should be worried."

With a shake of her head, Ana crossed her arms over her chest, "I just want to blow it up. I mean, it makes sense. Right, Connor?"

"Woah, woah, woah." Dean sprung up from his chair and walked over to his daughter, arms crossing over his chest to mimic her stance as he looked down at her. "You want to blow _what_ up?" He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about her forming this plan, but part of him _was_ slightly proud of her.

"The devil's gate. I got to thinking that if it no longer existed that this specific plan would fail, because they're banking on the fact that the gate is still standing, but if we take it away…" She trailed off, leaving the statement open ended so he would figure it out on his own.

Sam looked to the angels who were standing just inside of the room, "Would that work? It wouldn't just leave the portal to Hell open?"

Ana jumped a little at her uncle's words, grinning from ear to ear with excitement, "Connor already thought of that issue, which is why we're digging through this old spell book. It belonged to one of my long dead relatives, one who specialized in binding things together. We're thinking that if we use a strong enough binding spell, we can bind this particular entrance into Hell to the gate keeping it locked and-"

"-Once the gate is gone so will that entrance to Hell." Dean finished, following his daughter's train of thought as he smiled, "It makes sense and it's possibly the best plan we have." The last part was spoke at his brother, waiting for his incredi-brain to catch some problem with the plan that neither he or either of the witches had.

Sam took a minute, considering the plan and the page in the book that Connor seemed to be stuck on, "Is it even possible to get rid of something like that? I would just assume that it wouldn't be something as simple as destroying the gate that would close it."

Gabe and Cas shared a quick glance before they both moved toward the table, Castiel walked toward Sam and Connor to look at the book while Gabriel moved to stand by Dean's abandoned chair. "If everything is done right and the spell _is_ strong enough to bind the portal into Hell with the gate containing it, I don't see why it shouldn't work, but you may also want to have a containment and closing spell prepared, just incase this doesn't go according to plan."

"No problem, I actually have one somewhere that puts both of those things together and almost comes close to the strength of what was used to make Lucifer's cage." Ana made a twisting motion with her wrist and a new book appeared in her hand.

The angels shared a surprised glance, "No one is supposed to have that kind of power. Dad made the cage, you saying someone in your family somehow figured out how to rival God's power?" Gabriel demanded, voice growing angry.

Ana held up her hands in mock surrender, "Calm down, Gabe, I said _almost._ Obviously I don't have the strength of magic that God does, but I'm saying that this spell should be able to keep the gate on lockdown should this not go as planned."

Gabe frowned at the young witch, questioning her definition of the word _almost,_ "Show me the spell. I want to see if you're right."

Ana opened the book in her hand and leafed through it until she came across the spell, setting it on the table, she slid it over to Gabe before turning to raise an eyebrow at her father, "What's his deal?"

"I think the thought of anyone being as powerful as God set him off." Dean offered with a shrug, "I mean they're angels, God created them and the world, would make sense for them to take pride in their Dad's power."

"You know, you're smarter than you look." She teased with a cheeky grin.

Dean glared at her, "You watch it, I'm not afraid to beat on you." he warned in a playful tone, glad to have a normal moment among the crazy they had been stuck in recently.

The comment made Ana scoff and she rolled her eyes, "Like you'd stand a chance. I know all of your tricks, dad."

"Is that a challenge?" He raised an eyebrow at her and moved a hand so that he was pointing at her, "I taught you everything you know combat-wise."

"Uncle Sam taught me too." She reminded him, glancing over at the third Winchester in the room, though he was engrossed in reading something in the book he was looking at with Connor.

Dean gave her a questioning look, "And who do you think taught him? In a square fight between the two of us, I would take you down."

Ana took a step toward her dad, looking up at him with a smirk, "Why don't we settle this? We can go in the gym and see how long it takes me to pin you."

"How about the Winchester Battle Royal waits until we have this Hell mess figured out?" Gabriel offered, seeming to be the only one in the room listening to the banter between the father and daughter. "Plus, if you're going to do this I need proper time to set up some betting poles." He waited to speak again until he had walked around the table and was standing next to Ana, "So, you're right, this spell is incredibly powerful… in theory. Its never been tested before."

The young witch gave him a small nod, "I know, but the witch that wrote it, Beatrice, was very skilled in crafting spells. I have no doubt that it will work. The only problem is that the ingredients are going to be hard to get."

"The spell we were thinking of using on the gate, we're just discussing the ingredients needed." Connor glanced at Sam as he spoke, indicating that he was pairing the older man with himself in this conversation. "Some of them are going to be a little hard to get as well." He explained, turning his gaze on the two angels in the room, "We may need your help getting some of them."

"Let me see." Ana extended her hand out for the book, carefully taking it from him and turning it around to glance at the list of ingredients. "Right, some of these things are freakishly rare. Connor and I should be able to handle these ones," she tapped the book still in Gabriel's hands, "if you and Cas can help find the more rare items on this one." she slightly wiggled the book in her hand.

Gabriel held the book in his hands out to her and they swapped, each double checking the lists to see that they could get what they needed. "Cas and I should be able to get Saint Helena Olive flower. Quick jump into nineteen ninety-four, no biggie. This uh... " he glanced at the list with a raised eyebrow, "large moonstone, blessed by a Druid priest and washed in the blood of a first born virgin, may be a little harder." The angel looked at the young witch next to him, "Seriously, where do you guys come up with this stuff?"

"Oh, don't worry about that one. I've got a guy." Ana waved her hand as if it were no big deal and continued to look at her list before lifting her eyes to Connor, "Know where we can find a batch of frankincense and myrrh oil aged sixty years?"

Dean grabbed Ana's shoulder and spun her around so she was looking at him, "Do I even want to know how you found this 'guy' that can get you a rock covered in virgin blood?"

Ana rolled her eyes, "So I've met some people in the witching community and it's not like the virgin was sacrificed. Just a little blood to roll the moonstone around in and it's not _covered,_ they wipe the blood off at the end." When it didn't seem that Dean was going to respond, she turned back around to look at Connor, "Frankincense and myrrh?" she questioned again.

"Do they have to be separate or can it be a mixture?" He questioned, pulling out his phone ready to make a call.

"Uh…" Ana glanced down at the book and read over the spell one more time, "They need to be separate. Do you think Diane has some?"

Connor shook his head as he dialed a number, "I don't think so, but Gregory keeps a large stock of oils. I wouldn't be surprised if he did." he explained as he placed the phone to his ear and then walked away from the group so he could talk to his coven mate without interrupting the conversation in the bunker.

"Alright, while the rest of us work on the harder stuff, why don't you and Sam get the more common things." Ana glanced at her dad, "We already have some of it, though I don't think we have enough dragon's blood. I'll make you a list?"

Dean glanced at Sam and they both nodded, "We might as well do something if you guys are going to do the heavy lifting."

Connor walked back over to them, "Gregory has the oils and a couple of other things on our list, Red. I'll go get that from him if you want to get in contact with Willow."

"Your virgin blood, rock guy is named Willow?" Gabriel raised an eyebrow at Ana, wondering along with Dean and Sam where she found this guy.

"Yes, his name is Willow, no that is not his real name. No he is not a drug dealer or some creepy guy, just a really eccentric Druid who has a wide collection of different stones." Ana looked at the three men giving her weird looks, "Does that satisfy you or would you like me to get you all of his information before I go off to get what I need from him?"

Dean nodded, "I wouldn't mind taking a look at his record."

Ana made a disapproving sound, "Dad, I was kidding! Look we really don't have time for anything like that, there's no telling how much longer we have before they get to the gate and try to open it. I'll be there all of ten minutes. Plus, he owes me one."

"He owes you one?" Connor questioned, "I wasn't aware that Willow would agree to owing anyone for anything."

"Well you save his life from a spell gone wrong and he'll thank you with a very odd promise to 'be there whenever you need him', though I know I'm not taking that the way he meant it. I think he can dig through his collection for a moonstone for me." She offered, moving around the table to grab the small notepad and pen that sat off to the side. Writing down a quick list for her dad and uncle, she handed it to the former before turning to look at everyone else, "Let's just try to get this all done as soon as we can so that we beat Jade and her lackies to the punch line."

"Alright," Dean glanced at the list, "this is all easy enough. Meet back here and then someone can give the two humans a lift back to the devil's gate?" he questioned, glancing between the witches and the angels.

Ana nodded, "Sounds like a plan. See you guys soon." she offered before teleporting out of the room, followed shortly by Connor and then the angels as they flew out.

Sam moved toward his brother and took the list from him, "We can get all of this in the next town over." he said, following Dean toward the garage.

"You would know that, nerd." Dean jabbed, opening the door to the garage and hurrying through it. If they were going to keep up with the angels and witches they would have to travel fast and he didn't want to waste any time.

Once they reached the Impala and both brothers were inside, Sam turned to look at Dean, "How do you think we keep stocked on things like this? It just doesn't randomly appear in the bunker."

Dean scoffed, turning on the car and speeding out of the garage. Of course he knew that the things that they used in the few spells they ever did just didn't appear out of nowhere and the logical response was that Sam was the one keeping them stocked on everything, but he couldn't miss an opportunity to mess with his baby brother, not with the gnawing feeling in his gut growing by the second. If there was one thing that he knew for certain in this world, it was that when that feeling started, it was only a matter of time before it got worse and everything went to Hell. Dean just hoped that this one time his gut was wrong.

 _A/N(2): Sorry guys, it's a little shorter than I would have liked, but not posting anything for so long was driving me crazy! Next chapter shouldn't take nearly as long to get up. Thanks for reading! :)_


	34. Chapter 34

_A/N: Hey there! So not much of a lead up into this one, just normal blabber. Since there's a holiday this coming week I may be posting a chapter really fast after this, or I may be posting multiple chapters, or I may only wiggle out one at some point. We'll see how things go, but I'm hoping to start posting more, I have a plot point that I really want to get to, but it's going to be a while so I may binge write so I get there faster. Anywho, I'm just rambling at this point. Thanks for continuing to follow the story guys, I really hope you're enjoying it! As always, eldaearien, your review is much appreciated and I am eternally grateful for the continued support from you :)._

After some persuasion and a little threatening, Ana had the moonstone in her possession and she was going to head back to the bunker with it before going after the next item on her list. If something happened to that stone it wouldn't be nearly as easy to find another one to replace it. Once back in the bunker, she placed the stone on the table, thankful that it wasn't as large as it could have been, only taking up a corner of the table rather than half of it. She felt Connor appear across the table from her, causing her to look up and watch as he placed the two small glass bottles of oil along with a small satchel on the table. "What do we have left on our list?" Ana questioned, wondering what all he got from Gregory.

Connor picked the book back up to double check their list, "We have everything except for the dragon's blood, boneset, rowan bark, enough hematite to surround our circle, and apples." he raised an eyebrow at the last thing on their list, "Whoever wrote this was going with the classics. Apples? Really?"

"Oh, come on, apples are the easiest protection ingredient to come by." Ana walked over to him with a smile and grabbed the book, "This one was written by my extremely great cousin Lilia. In her time witches still believed that the stars the seeds formed on the inside meant that there was extra protection."

"Ah, the things we've learned through the generations." He commented with a fond smile at the memory of his lessons of past witches, "And if we want to ensure that there will be more generations to learn from our mistakes, we should get the rest of our items."

Ana kissed his cheek, "We'll figure this out, can't have any children if we're dead." she assured him. "Why don't you go after the boneset and hematite, I'll get the apples and the bark. Dad and Sam are getting more dragon's blood on their run."

Connor felt her turn to move away from him, but he reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back so that she was close to him, "You're not mad about the cemetery?" Ever since he had felt her drop the barrier, she had done nothing but send comforting feelings across their bond and it was beginning to confuse him.

"I'm not mad. You could have handled telling me better, but we were both upset and I wouldn't leave it alone." She placed a gentle hand on his cheek and gave him a soft smile, "I'll explain later why your worries are for nothing, but now we have-" Ana's words were cut off as she felt something tug inside of her, at the core of her power and as she watched a look cross Connor's face it clicked in her head.

"The barrier." The spoke together, each moving without saying another word to quickly gather the essentials they would need to fight off whatever attack was being waged on their magic.

As Ana grabbed her pistol to make sure it was loaded with devil's trap rounds, she realized that they needed to get word to the rest of their group. "Gabriel, I'm assuming you can hear me. Something's attacking our barrier at the devil's gate. We're going to hold them off, but we need you guys to hurry up on those ingredients."

There was a soft flutter of wings and Gabriel was suddenly in front of her, "What's left?" he questioned, watching as the young witch hurried around him to head toward the bags that Sam and Dean had left against a wall.

"Rowan bark, at least nine hematite stones, boneset and fresh picked apples. Let my dad and uncle know what's going on. Once you have everything, meet us at the cemetery, we'll do what we can to keep them at bay, but work fast. There's no telling how many we'll be up against." Ana told him, the words spilling over her lips rapidly as she dug two angel blades out of the bag and tossed one to Connor. Another, stronger tug pulled at her core and she winced at the uncomfortable feeling, "We need to go before they get through."

"We'll be there as soon as we can." Gabriel assured the witches.

Ana winced at the sharp pain that flashed through her head and then sucked in a deep breath as she was thrown into a vision. Though it was over quickly, it was a powerful one and it had her visibly shaken. "Jade. She's going to be there. This is their attempt at letting out Lucifer and Michael."

"Then you can't go alone. They're going to have a large force behind them if they're trying to open the cage." Gabriel took a step toward the female witch, "Cas and I will get the rest of what we need and then we can all go."

Ana's eyes met Connor's as another tug was pulled through her magic, "There's no time. We'll go and fight them off, move _fast,_ Gabriel." she moved over to Connor and grabbed his hand tightly in her own, using it to steel herself for the battle they were about to pop into. "We'll see you soon." she instructed the archangel and before he could argue the witches teleported out of the bunker.

-A-

"Where the hell are we supposed to get dragon's blood? Aren't they all dead?" Dean questioned Sam as they stepped out of the Impala that he had parked just outside the small shop Sam said carried what they needed.

The younger brother rolled his eyes, "Dragon's blood is a resin. They don't mean actual blood, Dean." he explained before turning to lead his brother into the shop he had quickly become familiar with. It was the closest place to the bunker that carried some of the weirder items they needed for their job.

"Of course it is, how silly of me." Dean grumbled as he followed his brother through the door, frowning at the brass bell that was attached at the top and jingled anytime the door moved. "You know where all of this stuff is at?" he asked, holding the list out toward Sam.

Plucking the list out of Dean's hand, Sam gave it a quick once over before nodding, "Yeah, everything is labeled pretty clearly, why don't you start over there with the hematite, it's a stone," he quickly explained, wondering if his older brother even knew what half of the items on the list were, "and the dragon's blood should be over there in a small plastic bag hanging on the wall, it'll look like red powder." After watching Dean head off in the direction he instructed, Sam moved toward the other side of the store to grab the rest of the things on the list, having been to the store enough times to know these items would be in the same area. It didn't take long for him to find the few things he needed and when he turned around to meet Dean at the cash register, he was surprised to see Gabriel at his brother's side, both men walking his direction and if Dean's expression was anything to go by, something was wrong.

"We need to get this and get back to the cemetery. _Now."_ Dean told him as he placed a hand on Sam's shoulder and turning him toward the register so they could pay and leave.

"What's going on?" Sam asked, looking back and forth between Dean and Gabriel.

Dean grabbed the things Sam had out of his hands and placed them on the counter so the woman behind the counter could ring them up, "Jade is at the gate. Connor and Ana went to hold them off, but we need to hurry." Gabriel explained as Dean quickly paid for their stuff, grabbing the bag the worker offered him and then directing the other men outside so they could get to the cemetery to aid his daughter.

Once they were outside, Dean directed them to the trunk of the Impala and he quickly opened it. "How long ago did they leave?" he questioned as he opened the trunk and began to grab weapons, handing a few off to Sam as he dug around.

"About ten minutes, I grabbed the things they sent me for and then came to get you. Cas is finishing up his list and will be shortly behind us." Gabriel answered, a tense look on his face, "We have no idea what we're going to find when we get there." His focused seemed to go somewhere else for a moment before a flash of worry took over his eyes, "We need to leave, are you ready?"

Dean slammed the trunk and turned to give Gabriel a sharp nod, not thrilled by the expression on the other man's face. "What is it?"

"Cas made it there, it's not pretty." Gabriel answered, grabbing on to the brothers and quickly flying them to the cemetery, not even caring if someone was around to see them disappear. Making sure they arrived just in front of the devil's gate so they had something at their backs, the scene before them took a moment for each man to process. The archangel could sense that the barrier around the gate was just barely holding on and by the looks of it, the demons were determined to break through and were protecting a witch much older than either of the witches that had constructed the barrier. While only a portion of the demons were protecting the witch, there were at least twenty more spread out through the cemetery, fighting against Connor, Ana, and Castiel.

Dean's focus quickly flittered across the field, eyes searching for the familiar streak of red hair and when he found it in the fray of battle, his stomach dropped. There were small cuts on her face and a wound on her stomach big enough to let loose enough blood to soak through her shirt. When he went to move, Gabriel threw an arm up in front of him, and the look Dean gave him in return promised death if the angel didn't let him move.

"We need to take out the witch working against the barrier." Gabriel told him, "Jade isn't here and she probably won't show until the barrier is down."

Sam's attention transitioned quickly through Castiel, who was being surrounded by enemies, Connor, who was doing his best to keep the three demons against him at bay, and Ana, who had five surrounding her and though her magic was keeping up, it was clear that her body wasn't because of bloodloss. "Dean, go help Ana. Gabriel, you and I can take out the witch."

Not waiting a minute longer, Dean rushed toward Ana, an angel blade gripped so tightly in his hand that his knuckles were turning white. A female demon stepped in his path, but he was in no mood to mess around and he quickly took care of her, shoving the blade deep into her body. Moving even faster toward his daughter, he took down any demon that stepped in his path, mentally swearing at the fact that they were slowing down his progress. When he was finally close enough to her to see the fight, it was clear that it was slowly beginning to turn against her favor. "Ana!" He moved quickly to close the small space between them, taking down two of the demons that had been in the small group attacking her. In the time it took him to kill those two, she had taken down two of the others and was just about to kill the other when he struck out at her with his powers, causing her to fall to her knees and the wound on her abdomen to bleed more.

"You cannot win this, little witch, our master will rise again." The demon spoke, a malicious grin on his face as he stepped closer to her.

Ana grunted, "Why are you all so damn full of yourself." she grumbled before lashing out with her own magic, forcing the demon to fall before her and holding him to the ground, "Dad, finish him." she instructed, having lost her angel blade during the fight.

Dean didn't waste time stalking toward the demon and stabbing his blade through it's back. Once he was sure the enemy was dead, he moved to catch Ana, who was beginning to slump to the ground. "Hey, hang in there, kid. We'll get someone to come heal you."

The girl shook her head, "Get me to Connor, we need to get rid of them and finish this before it's too late."

"Ana, you're bleeding out. We need to heal you before we do anything else." Dean instructed, moving her around carefully so he could pick her up.

As Dean stood up with her in his arms, Ana caught sight of two demons heading their way. Frowning, she created a protective barrier around them and looked up at her dad, "Get me to Connor." she pleaded with him, knowing that she was losing way too much blood and if they didn't do anything about it, she would fall unconscious and possibly die, but if they wasted time healing her they could completely miss their chance to stop Jade and her plan.

With a nod, he carried his daughter through the fray, watching as any demon that came their way could only get so close before they were stopped by whatever spell Ana was using to protect them. "Connor!" Dean yelled the name as they came closer to the area he was in and when the young witch turned to see them, the look of pure terror on his face made Dean worry further for his daughter.

"Get her by the gate!" Connor yelled, turning his attention back to the demons that were trying to attack him, though his barrier was keeping them away. With a quick chant, he had each demon pinned to the ground, unable to move. Turning to look back at Dean and Ana, he saw that Dean had just reached the inside of their barely standing barrier. With little thought Connor teleported to the other man's side and looked at the girl in her father's arms, carefully lifting her shirt to look at the deep gash that started just above her pant line on her right side and went straight up over her ribcage. "It will take too long for me to heal this, we need Cas or Gabe." Connor explained to Dean.

Ana grunted as Connor lifted her shirt, the feeling of the fabric being pulled from the open wound was something she could have gone without. "There's no time. They can heal me after, we need to get rid of these demons and get rid of this damn gate."

"You could bleed out." Connor argued, looking down at her with a worried expression. Of course she would be more worried about the task at hand than saving her own life, but with her having lost so much blood already he wasn't willing to risk it.

"Damn it, Connor, let's just get this done." Ana snapped, giving the man in front of her a slight glare. "If you're so worried about me losing all of my blood, I can take care of that." she added, placing a hand above the wound and speaking a short incantation. When the spell went into effect, she couldn't suppress the whimper that fought through her gritted teeth. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she patted her father on the shoulder and signaled that she wanted him to put her down.

Dean frowned at her, "What did you just do?" he questioned, knowing that whatever it had been could have caused her more pain than it was worth.

Grabbing the bottom of her shirt, Ana slowly lifted it up, showing the now cauterized wound down her side. "I'm not losing any more blood this way and we can take down the gate without worrying about me dieing." she explained, aiming the last part at Connor. "We need to finish this before Jade shows up."

"Fine." Connor shook his head at her before turning to look at the battle still raging around them, "We need to get rid of these demons and that witch before we can effectively do anything." He slowly turned to look at Ana and offered her his hand, knowing that their shared power could easily wipe out the enemies around them. When her warm hand slipped into his, he glanced back down at her, for a moment before looking to Dean, "We're going to need you to get all of the ingredients together that we'll need for the spell."

-A-

While fighting off demons one after another, Sam heard the sound of his brother's voice ringing over the sounds of battle and it pulled his attention from his own fight to watch Dean run across the cemetery with Ana cradled against his chest. "Gabe! Cas!" Sam called their attention to the father and daughter, continuing to fight the demons in front of him while hoping that one of them could get to his niece and heal her before she got worse.

Though both angels could see the declining physical state of the young witch, neither of them could get to her to heal her wound at the moment, they were both surrounded by the enemy and each hoped that she would survive long enough for one of them to aid her. It was quickly becoming clear that they were being overwhelmed, more demons seemed to be appearing out of nowhere and with the current ones still in decent enough state to continue to fight, their numbers were slowly growing.

Sam was sure that any moment he was going to be seriously injured, the fight had quickly turned against him as the number of demons he was facing grew larger and right when he was sure he was done for, a bright white light covered the surrounding area and the demons screamed out in pain before each fell to the ground. As the light faded he was able to look around and see that Connor and Ana had been the source of the power, he was relieved to see that his niece was at least standing.

"We need to do the ritual, now!" Ana called to them, needing them all to move toward the devil's gate so they could get started. Hopefully while her and Connor were working on that the rest of the group could take care of any demons that continued to show up, because she knew that this battle was far from over. She watched as the three men who were still in battle moments before rushed over to them, "Connor, grab a couple of bowls." she instructed, not trusting herself to move much from where she stood, she needed to save the little energy she had left to participate in the ritual. "There will be more coming, Jade will be among them. Connor and I will work as fast as we can, we need you guys to hold them off as long as possible."

Gabriel stepped forward, handing the things he had been directed to retrieve to Connor before looking at Ana, "You should let me heal you before you start this, you've lost a lot of blood."

The witch shook her head, "There isn't enough time, I know the extent of the damages and it would take too long for you to heal everything. Once this is taken care of and the demons are gone you can, but not until then."

"Ana, just let the angel heal you." Dean snapped, wondering why she was refusing when it wouldn't take very long at all for either angel to heal her.

"I'm not losing anymore blood and everything else is minor." Ana's voice was stern, "I've seen what happens if we waste time and I'm not willing to let anything happen to the rest of you. We'll bind the gate to the portal to Hell and then blow it up. If it doesn't work and the portal is left open, we'll take care of that. It won't take long and we're wasting time arguing." she turned from her father and grabbed the bowl Connor held in his hands. "I'll finish this one if you'll prepare the other, might as well have it ready in case we need it." She walked slowly toward the side of the gate, looking down at the small pile of supplies that Connor had left for easy access. Bending down to grab what she needed was going to be uncomfortable, walking was pretty bad itself, sighing Ana lifted a hand and used her powers to pull the things off of the ground that she needed.

Dean shook his head, "You can't even bend down, Ana, and you want to continue on like this?" he crossed his arms over his chest, upset that she was being so stubborn.

Choosing to ignore her father's words, she didn't lift her gaze from the bowl as she began to finish mixing the ingredients that would need to spread around the circle she and Connor would place around the gate. "There will be more demons soon, you should prepare yourselves." she warned, quickly finishing her mixture before looking up at Connor. "Are you almost ready?"

"Yeah, couple more things to add and then I'm set. Do you have the hematite?" Connor didn't raise his eyes from his bowl, making very certain that he was measuring everything right.

"Enough for the circle. We'll start at the north, you go east, I'll go west and then we'll meet at the south point. We'll bind the gate with the portal and then use our power to destroy it." Ana went over their plan once more, making sure they were still working off of that one. "Let's do this before we get overwhelmed by demons." she turned her head to look at the rest of the men in her makeshift family. "Do what you can to keep any that show up away from us, we'll do the rest."

Dean nodded and spun around, walking away from his daughter and finding a place to stand among the gravestones where he still had a direct line of sight to what was going on at the gate. He watched as Cas and Gabe each moved to take place around the gate so that all directions were covered, when he saw Sam pause to speak to Ana before moving toward an unguarded area he wondered what his brother had said to his daughter to cause the already tense expression on her face to harden further. There was little time to speculate before demons began to reappear throughout the cemetery and as Dean engaged the demon nearest to him he silently prayed that the witches would work fast.

-A-

"Let's get this started." Ana looked at Connor, pushing her uncle's words to the back of her mind. "The faster we get this over the better." she added before teleporting to the north point on the other side of the gate, not wanting to waste time and energy in walking all the way around.

Connor shook his head, placing his bowl within grabbing distance of where they would be doing to first ritual, wanting to be able to quickly grab it in the case that they would need it. After a fast once over of what was going on, he caught sight of the first demons to come and he teleported to Ana's side, "They're here. You ready?" he questioned, watching her pour half of her mixture from the large bowl in her right hand to the slightly smaller one in her left hand. He was sure she'd only had the large bowl when she'd teleported away and he wanted to smile at the fact that her powers were growing to the point where she could summon things that weren't in her line of sight, but he was too worried about their current predicament to even try to grin.

"As ready as I can be." She answered, holding the larger bowl out to him. With a quick glance up, she saw Castiel off to her right side fighting against a small group of demons. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the hematite stones she had placed there and handed Connor half, "Let's go." Turning toward the west, Ana began to walk in a half circle, making sure it was wide enough to contain a large area in the case that their explosion plan didn't work and they would need to close the portal manually. As she walked, she slowly spilled the contents of her bowl on the ground, dropping a stone every few feet, and quietly repeating the chant that would bind the portal and the gate together while also encircling the gate so the explosion wouldn't get too out of hand. By the time her bowl was empty and she was met by Connor at the southern point of their circle, the sound of the fight around them had grown louder and she knew that they needed to continue to move quickly.

Connor dropped his bowl to the ground and offered his hand to Ana, their physical connection making their magical one stronger. When her green eyes met his and they were sad, he was about to question why, but was stopped by her hand slipping into his own. They both turned their attention toward the gate, each raising their open hand out to it as they focused their shared power. While most magic was done with spells and incantations, a lot of them weren't necessarily needed by the more powerful witches, such as Ana and Connor, but they helped focus the energy of whatever they were trying to accomplish. With something like blowing a stone gate to pieces, they didn't need to focus the energy so much as they needed to direct it. The connection between their powers made it easy for Connor to follow Ana's lead and she began to pull on their combined strength, forcing it to grow and vibrate within them before it reached a point when they both knew that they needed to let it go.

-A-

When the demons first started to appear in the cemetery after Connor and Ana had taken out the first batch, it was manageable. With each angel and hunter holding their own in their own area, they were keeping the numbers controlled and though they each received their share of minor wounds, no one was terribly injured. Gabriel had just fought off two more and was looking around to take in how Cas and Dean were doing since they were the only ones in his line of sight and that was when he caught sight of a woman with long blonde hair, deep brown eyes, and the air of a demon who had an ego the size of a football field. The archangel watched a moment as the demon walked between the spaces that he and Dean were covering, her focus most likely on Ana and Connor as they worked their magic. He knew that if she got anywhere near them that they wouldn't be able to finish their spell and he swore before flying right in front of the woman, stopping her progress toward the witches.

"I've heard about the archangel who had become the witch's pet, but I wasn't quite sure I believed it." Jade spoke, a sly grin pulling at the corner of her lips.

Gabriel scoffed, "Oh, that one hurt." the dry sarcasm and the deadpan look on his face something he hadn't used often since having basically come back from the dead.

The blonde raised an eyebrow at the angel, "It's not you I came for Gabriel, though I'm sure your brothers would be ecstatic to see you once I let them out. So why don't you get out of my way so I can take care of that damn witch and we can have ourselves a little family reunion?"

"Or you and I can have a little cat fight, I'll kill you, my witch pals over there will finish their spell and everyone leaves a happy camper." Gabriel offered, twirling his angel blade in his hand while flashing a cocky grin.

"You angels are so damn annoying." Jade grumbled, lashing out at Gabriel with her power to distract him while she swung a fist at his face. Though when her fist made contact with the angel in front of him, it didn't feel right and he quickly vanished. "Trickster!" she swore, having almost forgotten Gabriel's stint as Loki.

"What can I say?" Gabriel asked from behind the demon, "The classics always work." he finished with a grin as the demon turned to look at him and he swung his angel blade at her, which she barely dodged.

The fight between the angel and demon continued with mostly physical combat, each giving and receiving almost equal amounts of bodily harm. It was clear to Gabriel that Jade had a little more practice with this than most demons and he was sure that the fight he was in would last longer than he had originally thought. That thought was quickly changed with the loud sound of shattering rock and the bright light of power that came from the direction of the devil's gate and their fight ceased as both turned their attention to the rubble lying on the ground that had once been an entrance to Hell.

"No!" Jade screamed in frustration, ready to move toward the witches and rip both of their hearts out, but she was suddenly grabbed from behind.

"Looks like your plan failed." Gabriel smirked, aiming his angel blade at her back, but before he made contact, the demon in his grasp was suddenly gone.

-A-

The wave of pure energy that surged out of their two bodies and toward the gate would have knocked Ana off of her feet had Connor not been holding on to her. She had expected it to be powerful, it had to be for their plan to work, but she hadn't planned on her body being so weak. With the force that their power hit the gate, the light and subtle shake of the Earth beneath them, the gate began to crumble toward the ground, showing no sign that the portal itself was still open. The wave of relief that surged through her made her grin and she was ready to throw her arms around Connor in a hug when the world around her began to shift, her vision tunneling to black as her body slumped toward the ground.

Connor felt Ana tug at his hand and he assumed that she was excited to see that their plan had worked, but when he turned toward her to respond with the same excitement he barely caught the movement of her body collapsing. Moving quickly, he tightened the grip around her hand that he held in his own and then reached out for her arm with his free hand, helping her descent to the ground slow down. Once she was laying down he began to check her body over for the sign of a wound, but there was nothing visible that he could see and he began to panic.

-A-

Dean and Sam had caught the sight of the gate falling, but quickly turned back to the demons they were fighting off. Though one minute they were close to being surrounded and the next each demon seemed to notice that their leader was gone and followed after her. Sucking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Dean turned to look at Sam, who was just across the cemetery, and they shared a small, relieved smile. Though their moment was quickly shattered by the worried shout that filled the silence that had fallen around them.

"GABRIEL!" Connor yelled for the archangel, knowing that he would be able to figure out what was wrong with Ana and heal her faster than the witch could.

All attention quickly turned toward the witches and when Dean found that his daughter was laying on the ground, head resting in Connor's lap, looking paler than she should have and her eyes closed, panic filled the elder Winchester's body. "ANA!" Dean yelled for his daughter as he sprinted toward her, being able to hear his brother's foot falls shortly behind him, he worried that she hadn't healed herself enough. Though his vision was distorted by the fact that he was running, he was almost positive that her chest wasn't moving up or down at all, that she wasn't breathing.


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N: Hey! So just so you know, there's a lot of jumping around of focus during this chapter. It may get a little confusing but I'm hoping to make everything clear enough so it's not :). Hope you guys like it!**

Ana stood in a beautiful wooded area. The trees that surrounded her were tall and the way the sun was shining through the canopies gave the perfect balance of shade and warmth. As she slowly spun around to look at everything, moving her feet, she realized by the soft sensation of the tall grass against her skin that she was barefoot. Looking down, she took in the white summer dress that stopped just below her knees, leaving the rest of her legs free for the grass to tickle. Turning her attention back to her surroundings, her brow furrowed, something was wrong. For how large the area seemed to be, it was eerily silent. There should have been sounds of birds and other wild critters, but there was absolutely nothing. It was then that she remembered what had happened; the fight with the demons, the devil's gate destruction, and the look on Connor's face before everything went black. _Am I dead?_ The question fled through her mind and she was suddenly filled with fear that she'd never see her family again.

-A-

Dean sat in the driver's seat of the Impala, his hands wrapped around the steering wheel so tight that he was sure if he let go he'd lose all control of his fingers until the blood flow was reestablished. It hadn't taken him much to convince Cas to go get his car and bring it to South Dakota where the whole group was staying at. Staying anywhere near Calvary Cemetery was asking for trouble and this was the first place Dean could think of. He took in a deep breath, trying to steady himself as he had done so many times in the past three days, but just like each time before, it did nothing for him. The sound of his phone ringing broke the silence he had been encased in, with both the engine and the radio off it was strangely quiet in the car, but it had been something he had found comforting.

Sighing, he carefully removed his right hand from the steering wheel to pull his phone out of his jacket pocket. Sam's name was lit up on the screen and the internal argument about whether or not he should answer began. With his luck the words out of his brothers mouth wouldn't be the ones he wanted to hear and he wasn't sure he could take hearing anything else. Ignoring the call, he turned his gaze out the windshield and at the mangled house he had parked in front of.

-A-

"Still no answer?" Gabriel asked, looking over at Sam as he placed his phone back in his pocket.

The younger Winchester shook his head, "No, though I can guess where he went." Sam answered, looking around the parking lot where he and the angel had come looking for Dean.

"He's trying to stay strong, for you and Connor, especially for Ana." Gabe sighed, turning around to look back at the hospital, "He'll come back when he's ready, until then, we should go back inside and check on the kid. I'm sure that he isn't going to be happy with my little party trick earlier."

-A-

Connor hadn't left the chair at the side of Ana's hospital bed since the doctors had finished her surgery and told them they were allowed in her room. The fear of losing her now was just as real and fresh as it had been when she had collapsed at the cemetery, he continued to play the scene over and over again in his mind...

" _Gabriel, heal her!" Connor pleaded, looking down at the unconscious woman in his lap. She was barely breathing and almost all color had left her skin._

 _When the archangel finally reached the witches, he slid to the ground, stopping at Ana's side and placing two fingers to her forehead. When he willed his grace to heal her and nothing happened, the angel was shocked. "It's not working, her magic is blocking me and I can't do anything."_

" _Connor, if it's her magic, can't you do something?" Sam questioned, his brain fishing for any answers to save his niece who seemed to be dieing._

 _With a shake of his head Connor looked up at Sam, watching as Dean fell to his knees on the opposite side as Gabriel. "It would take too long, she could die by then."_

" _We take her to to hospital. If you guys can't do anything, that's our last hope." Dean spoke, voice rough with grief because if a witch or an angel couldn't heal his daughter, what good would a hospital do. "Sioux Falls. Take us to the hospital there." he instructed, looking at Gabriel and Castiel as he stood up._

 _Connor quickly adjusted Ana so he was carrying her and then stood, following Dean's lead. The angels quickly flew everyone to just outside the emergency room and Connor hurried inside, cradling Ana tight to his chest as he followed after her father who was already shouting for a doctor, "Hang in there, Red, we're going to get you some help." Connor murmured to her as a small group of nurses rushed over with a gurney. Carefully he placed her on the thin mat, barely listening as Dean quickly made up some story about how it had all been some crazy hiking accident and in a last chance hope to save herself, Ana had tried to cauterize the wound by her own hand to try to stop the bleeding. It wasn't long after his explanation that the five men watched Ana be wheeled away by the doctor and nurses..._

That had been three days ago. There had been internal bleeding, a couple of her organs had been damaged by the blade the demon had tried to kill her with. They were slowly replenishing the lost blood and though part of the color had returned to her skin, she hadn't woken up. The doctors said it was a coma, that her body was keeping itself that way so it could heal without wasting energy.

He hadn't slept much since they had arrived, too worried that if he took his eyes off of her for longer than a moment that he would lose her completely. So when he jumped awake meer minutes before and neither Sam or Gabriel were in the room with him, he knew the angel must have done something to cause him to fall asleep. Sighing he looked at the monitors hooked up to his… girlfriend? Soulmate? They hadn't ever clarified if they were dating again and though it was true that they were soulmates, it felt weird to think of her as that. Running a hand through his hair, he returned his focus to the machines, seeing that though her heart rate was slow it was still steady.

The sound of the door to the room opening caused him to turn his head, seeing that it was Sam and Gabe, he turned his attention back to Ana. "How long was I out?" he questioned, not caring which man answered him.

"A couple of hours. Nothing has changed with her and Dean's still gone. Jody stopped by again, wanted to check up on her and said that she would stop by again later." Sam caught the young man up on what little he had missed. Though he didn't look much better than he had before Gabriel had put him to sleep, at least Connor seemed a little rested.

Connor nodded, leaning forward and grabbing Ana's limp hand between both of his, "Any word from Cas?"

"There hasn't been any demon action at the cemetery and no sudden appearance of a portal to Hell, so I think we're pretty much in the clear, but he said he was going to wait a little longer to come back." Gabriel answered, "He wants us to call if Ana wakes up."

"When." Connor corrected, " _When_ Ana wakes up."

Gabriel nodded, "Of course. When she wakes up, if he's not back by then, he wants us to give him a call."

-A-

Dean finally stepped out of the Impala, slowly extending up to his full height and turning to look at the rows of cars. He wanted nothing more than to be able to go back into that house and find Bobby sitting behind his old desk, but being reminded that the old man was gone wouldn't help him in his current predicament. Moving away from his car he walked toward the shop where Bobby kept all of his tools and hoped that being here would help clear his mind enough to go back to the hospital so he could be strong for his family.

It was getting colder outside. Autumn was slowly transitioning to winter and if the recent cold was anything to go by, that season was going to be worse than normal for the state. Dean pulled his jacket tight around him and leaned against the workbench as he looked at one of the old junkers Bobby had been tinkering with shortly before he passed. He could only imagine what the older man would have been telling him right now if he saw Dean there rather than at the hospital with the others. " _Stop moping around, ya idjit. Get back there, your brother and daughter need you!"_ The memory of the old hunter's voice brought a weak, pained smile to his face and he was reminded once again of how much he missed Bobby and everyone else they had lost. It was then that he realized how much he was willing to give up to save Ana, how he completely refused to lose anyone else.

With a rough shove, he pushed himself back on to his feet and hurried back toward his car. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he dialed his brother's number, "Hey, I'm on my way back." he spoke as soon as the other line was answered.

"Good, I was starting to worry." Sam's voice came over the speaker as Dean started the engine to his car and shoving the gear into reverse so he could pull around to drive straight down the old gravel road.

"Keep your panties on, I'll be there soon." Dean rolled his eyes before ending the call and moving the gear back into drive before slamming his foot down on the accelerator and speeding off back toward the city. There had to be something they could do to either get Ana out of her coma or make it so that one of the angels could heal her, he just had to find a way.

-A-

Ana had been walking around for what she assumed had been at least an hour and she was almost completely certain that she had been walking in a fairly straight line, but there didn't seem to be an end to this forest. Through however many miles she must have covered she hadn't seen one animal or heard one noise, if it hadn't been for the occasional different tree or patch of wildflowers she would have assumed she had been walking in circles. _Where in the Hell am I?_ There was no way this was Heaven. No, she was certain it wasn't. From what she had seen of her father and uncle's trips to the place, Heaven was something familiar for each person, but this forest was something she had never seen before. So she wasn't in Heaven and this place was much too nice to be Hell, so she couldn't have been dead, but if she wasn't dead then what was going on?

-A-

Castiel had been standing watch at Calvary Cemetery for the past three days, both wanting to make sure that the demons weren't constructing some plan to somehow reopen the portal to Hell so that they could finish their plan to raise Lucifer and Michael from the cage and that the portal wouldn't somehow reappear on its own. The only time he had left was when they had taken Ana to the hospital and a few times since then to check up on everyone. Surprisingly enough there had been no movement for miles around the cemetery, angel or demon alike, and he was certain in his decision that it was safe to leave his post. Flying away from the cemetery, he carefully checked the hospital room that Ana was being kept in, making sure that no doctors or nurses were present before descending and landing next to his brother. His eyes were focused on the young witch in the bed before him, it was anything but easy to see someone he cared about in need of his help, yet being able to do nothing about it.

When Castiel had first met Ana, he wasn't sure what to think about the youngest Winchester. In the beginning their relationship had been completely professional, one of two people working in the same field toward a mutual goal. Over the first year of her living with the brothers they had slowly become friendly, nothing close to the connection she held with Gabriel, but it was something similar to what he had with Sam and Dean. Though he had spent only a short time as a human, he was beginning to understand human emotion more and more, which is why it was easy for him to label the strange ache in his stomach as worry. He was worried for his friend, worried for the small family he had become a member of, and it was a feeling he didn't like.

"Are we still unable to aid her?" Castiel aimed the question at his brother, knowing that periodically he and Connor had been checking to see if something had changed so that one of them could help her. After the doctors had finished Ana's surgery, Connor had attempted a healing spell, but just like Gabriel's grace, it had no affect.

The archangel sighed, looking at Castiel with a dejected expression, "We've tried everything we can think of, neither of us is able to heal her." he answered, slowly turning his attention back to Ana, who still hadn't moved.

"There has to be something we haven't tried." Sam spoke up, pushing himself up from the wall he had been leaning against since Castiel had entered the room. "It's her magic that's not letting either of you help, right? It's like a self defense mechanism since she's unable to protect herself, maybe whatever it is views you as a threat because you're trying to be invasive." he offered, having been thinking about something else to try. Dean was on his way back and Sam wasn't about to let his brother walk through that door and have nothing to raise his hopes even slightly.

Connor had been listening to everything that had been said, but he still refused to pull his eyes off of Ana's sleeping form. He contemplated Sam's words, if his theory was right, something that was less invasive to the body itself should be allowed, but there was only one way to figure it out. "If we could get inside of her head, talk to her, maybe we could get her to wake up." he offered, little hope in his words. At this point he didn't want to get too invested in an idea to just have it fail and him be broken all over again.

"YES!" Gabriel yelled, a glimmer in his eyes that hadn't been there in days. He walked around the bed to stand at the opposite side that Connor was on, "The doctors said that her brain function was normal, right? So she could even be subconsciously doing this herself, which would be a lot easier to deal with rather than her magic doing this." his tone was excited as he basically bounced up and down, moving back around the bed to stride over to Sam. "Riddle me this smarty pants. Let's say our theories are right… Someone can get into Ana's head and inform her of what's going on, she's strong and stubborn enough to pull herself out of this. Wouldn't you say?"

Sam's eyes went wide and a small smile played at the corners of his lips, "She is a Winchester." he offered as answer, turning his attention to Connor, assuming he would be the one to try to get inside of Ana's head. "What are you waiting for, get rolling with the magic."

Connor shook his head, "As much as I would like to, I'm too weak. Between the lack of rest and how much power I've been using to try and break through whatever is keeping our healing out… I'm just not strong enough to get in her head, keep myself there, and explain what's going on."

"It's okay, buddy." Gabe walked over to Connor and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'll do it and I'll make sure she comes back to us."

"We should wait for Dean." Castiel spoke up, thinking that the eldest Winchester would be mad if they tried something like this without him knowing.

The sound of the door opening caused each man to turn their head in that direction, "What are we waiting for me for?" Dean questioned as he walked in. He had caught the tail end of the conversation as he reached the other side of the door and wanted to know what was going on.

Sam placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, "We think we figured out a way we can help Ana." he answered, offering a hopeful smile.

"How?" Dean turned his attention back to the still body of his daughter in the hospital bed. Walking to stand at the side of her bed, opposite Connor, Dean brushed back a strand of her hair.

Gabriel quickly explained the ideas Sam and Connor had, making sure to point out that it would be himself trying to get inside of Ana's head. "It's our best bet, Deano. Everything else the kid," the archangel patted Connor on the shoulder, "and I have tried hasn't worked. This is a good plan."

Slowly nodding, Dean grabbed the free chair on that side of the bed and pulled it closer so he could be almost level with Ana's face. "Do it. You tell her to wake up and get her lazy ass out of this damn bed." he grumbled, grabbing on to her free hand.

The archangel nodded and took a couple of steps back until he was leaning against the wall, he would only be placing part of his consciousness in her head, but it was always a safe bet to not be standing straight up in case more of his focus was pulled from reality.

-A-

Ana had quickly given up on trying to find anyway out of the forest on the ground, there was no way to tell how far she had come or if she was even heading in the right direction. The next logical plan was to take to the trees, if she could climb close enough to the top it would allow her to see the surrounding area and then maybe she could figure out a way to get out. She had made it about ten feet off of the ground and she shook her head, this would all be so much more easier if she were in her jeans and boots, but for whatever reason those were gone and she was stuck climbing a ridiculously tall tree in a dress that was beginning to ride too high. Thankfully she had been an adventurous child and had learned to climb trees from a boy in the neighborhood, that knowledge added on top of the muscles she had gained from training as a hunter meant that the process wasn't too tiring.

A couple more feet up the tree and she jumped at the first sound she'd heard since she'd woken up in this strange place. "I always thought the Squirrel thing was a joke, but you do share his genetics." Gabriel commented, perched on a nearby branch.

If Ana would have had any slower reflexes, she would have probably released the branch she was using to pull herself up and would have fallen to her death. "Gabriel? What the hell?!"

"You're asking me? You're the one in a coma and climbing trees in her head." He shrugged, taking a quick peek toward the ground and another up toward the top of the tree. "What exactly was your plan, Ana?"

Rolling her eyes, she hoisted herself all the way up on the branch and moved until she could sit on it and face Gabriel. "Climb to the top and figure out the best exit route." she explained, raising an eyebrow at him, "I'm in a coma?"

The angel's face fell slightly, "Yeah, princess, you've been out for three days."

"Why haven't you healed me then, jerk?" She questioned, snapping a twig off of a nearby branch and throwing it at the angel. "There's too much stuff going on for me to be out of the game."

Gabriel frowned at her, "Are you kidding? We've tried countless times, Ana, but you're magic won't let us through. It's like there's this shield up between my grace and Connor's magic, neither of us have been able to do anything until now and this whole thing was Sam and Connor's idea, but hey, it worked."

"Okay, so what you're telling me is that I'm keeping myself unconscious?" Gabriel nodded, "Alright, well to Hell with climbing trees, let's get back to the real world." Standing, Ana looked at her friend, "Mind getting out of my head so I can focus?"

The archangel smiled, "As you wish, princess. Just don't take too long, none of us have been handling this well and I think your dad and Connor might lose it." He slipped off of the branch he was sitting on to stand on another, "Oh! Speaking of Dean, I'm to relay a message. And I quote: Wake up and get your lazy ass out of this bed." Gabe winked at her before disappearing, leaving her to do whatever witchy mojo she needed to rejoin the world of the living.

Ana closed her eyes and focused on her magic. When she had first woken up, she hadn't noticed it like she normally did, like a warm sensation resonating from the center of her chest, but now that she knew what was going on everything made sense. She hadn't felt her power in her chest because she was feeling it all around her, this place was created by her magic. Using all of her willpower, she pulled all of it back into herself, taking control of her magic again and willing herself to wake up.

-A-

Gabriel stood up straight, pushing himself away from the wall and taking in each pair of worried eyes on him. "Just wait." he instructed, turning his attention to Ana, praying to his Father that she was able to do what was needed to bring herself back to them.

Connor turned his attention from Gabriel, meeting gazes with Dean before they both turned to focus on Ana. Moments later he watched as her face scrunched and she made a soft groaning noise, "Ana?" his grip on her hand tightened slightly as he waited for her to open her eyes.

"Hey, kiddo, you coming back to us?" Dean asked as he scooted to the edge of his chair. He watched her face closely as she slowly woke up, he didn't realize that he had been holding his breath until her eyes slowly opened and all of the air rushed out of him in relief. "Welcome back to the world." he smiled at her, happy to see his eyes mirrored once again in her's.

Ana quickly closed her eyes once she had opened them, regretting the decision once the light of the room was let in and she hadn't been prepared for it. "Ow." she complained, her voice hoarse from not being used in three days.

"What hurts?" Connor asked, beginning to worry that something was wrong. She had just woken up and he was still so afraid of losing her that he was probably going to hover for a while.

"My hand. Mind releasing your hold there a little, Hulk?" She teased weakly, turning her head to the side to give him a smile.

"Oh," Connor quickly loosened his grip, but didn't let go all the way, "Sorry." he apologized sheepishly, ignoring the sound of Sam sniggering to his side. "How are you feeling?"

The young witch raised an eyebrow at him, "Like I've been in a coma for three days." she replied sarcastically. "Let me guess, internal bleeding?" she questioned, slowly looking at each person in the room, smiling softly at them.

"Yeah, that knife wound nicked a couple of organs and though you closed up the surface wound, you hadn't fixed anything inside." Dean explained, "Which is why you should have let Gabe or Cas heal you before you did the ritual."

Fixing her eyes on her father, Ana sighed and gave her head a small shake, "If we would have wasted any time, I would have been hurt, but _you_ would have died, dad. I had a vision right before we left for the cemetery and that's what I saw."

Dean paled only slightly at that, he had died before and had come close countless times before, but it was completely different when his daughter was putting her life on the line to make sure that he stayed safe, "That doesn't change anything, Ana, you can't put yourself at risk to save me."

Though she was still weak, Ana glared at him and without removing her eyes from him she addressed the angels, "One of you heal me please." She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and felt Gabriel press his fingers to her forehead. The flood of energy that was the archangels grace washed over her and she instantly felt better. Wiggling her hand free of Connor's she sat up, finally breaking eye contact with Dean to look down at the arm that had an IV line running to it so that she could take it out. Making quick work of the rest of the wires that were connected to her, she used her magic to push her father's chair back so she could stand up and look down at him. "You have no idea what it was like watching you die, _again._ I've seen you die too many times for it to be comfortable and knowing that there was something I could do about it this time… It was clear that I was meant to stop it from happening. So don't you get all high and mighty on me for making sure that you stayed safe, because you have done the same damn thing so many times over that I've lost count." She took in a deep breath, feeling her eyes begin to water, "I refuse to lose any of you and I will stop anything that comes after you with everything I have. This is the closest thing I've ever had to a real family, don't think for a minute that I'm going to stand aside when I can do what is needed to keep you safe." With that she moved around the bed, glad that whoever had tied her hospital gown had made sure it was secure so she wasn't accidentally flashing anyone, and she made a beeline for the bathroom door. Once inside with the door locked behind her, she paused at the sink. Looking at herself in the mirror, she knew that she must have looked a lot better off since Gabriel healed her than she initially did when she first came too. With a quick wave of her hand clean clothes and her favorite boots appeared on the floor. Ana didn't waste anytime changing into her clothes, incredibly happy that she had the power to bring them to her instead of having to wait for someone to bring them to her. Once she was ready she stepped back out of the bathroom and looked at everyone, "We should probably get out of here before the staff start asking about my miraculous recovery."

Sam gave her a small smile as he walked over to her, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "We're in Souix Falls. Why don't we go see Jody so that she knows you're alright. She's been worried about you." he informed her, trying to successfully change the subject to something lighter than what it was before she had left the room.

"Sure." There was a short pause as a thought hit her, "Wait!" She looked at everyone, noticing that all eyes were on her again, "What happened at the gate? I don't remember much after it crumbled. Did the portal close? Everything ended up alright, right?"

Connor stood up from the chair he had been practically glued to since the nurses had let him into the room, "Yeah, everything was fine. Cas stayed behind to keep an eye on things and nothing's happened."

The relief was clear on Ana's face at the news, "Good." She nodded, looking toward her dad who seemed to have come to terms with their argument, or he was at least keeping his mouth shut about it. "Can Connor and I get a moment to talk? We'll meet you outside shortly."

"Yeah, the Impala is in the parking lot, we'll meet you out there." Sam answered before Dean could say no. He placed his hands on his brother's shoulders and steered the shorter man out of the room, checking over his shoulder once to make sure that the angels were following them.

When the room was finally empty, Ana turned to look at Connor, noticing again how rough he looked. There were black circles under his eyes, presumably from lack of sleep, his black hair was tossed in every direction, and he was wearing the same clothes from the cemetery. While she was taking in his appearance and readying herself to lecture him about taking care of himself, he strode across the room and enveloped her in his arms. "You have me so worried." he muttered as he placed a kiss to the top of her head. Wrapping her arms around his middle and hiding her face against his chest, she took in a deep breath, not sure what to say to him. She couldn't take away the pain he felt and she was doing what she could to reassure him that she was alright. Before she could think of anything to say, he placed a finger under her chin and pulled her face up so that she was looking him in the eye, "Don't you ever do that to me again." he told her sternly. Leaning down, he pressed his lips to hers and pulled her even closer, relieved that he was able to do so.

When their lips separated, Ana took in a deep breath, refocusing her eyes on his before smiling softly, "You realize you're talking to a Winchester, right?"

Connor chuckled, "You can't use that excuse forever." he pointed out before kissing her again, "Come on, let's get out to the Impala before your dad freaks out about how long we've been in here." Dropping his arms from around her, he took her hand in his own, lacing their fingers together.

"One problem." she looked toward the door that led to the rest of the hospital, "They're not going to just let me walk out of here."

"So we teleport out and into the back seat of the car." He grinned at her, "I bet you we can get a good scare out of Sam and Dean."

Ana grinned and gave him a quick nod, pulling on her power to teleport herself into the back seat of the Impala and when she realized that the car was still empty, her grin widened. "He's going to love this." she muttered sarcastically, turning to look out of the window. It was a couple of minutes before she caught site of the four men walking their way and she hurriedly rolled down the window, "You guys are so slow!" she yelled at them, watching as both her father and uncle frowned at her.

"You're hilarious." Dean grumbled when they were closer to the car. Standing in front of her door, he reached through her window to unlock his door without having to use the key. Turning to Cas and Gabe, he sighed, "So we'll catch up with you guys later?"

Castiel nodded, "We'll keep you updated." he assured both Winchester men before flying off, quickly followed by Gabriel.

"Where did they go?" Ana questioned as the men got into the car, wondering if there was something she needed to be made aware of.

Sam looked over his shoulder at her, "They're going to do some digging, see if there's any other way for the demons to open the cage. Just trying to make sure that we took care of this problem before we switch gears back into normal hunting." he explained as Dean started the engine. "They don't think we have anything to worry about, so we're going to take some time to see Jody and then we'll make our way back to the bunker."

She smiled at the thought of getting a break from people trying to end the world in some way or another, going on a normal hunt was something she was looking forward to, "Sounds like a plan." Leaning against Connor, she relaxed as her dad drove the car away from the hospital and on to the main road.


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N: Hey guys, just a quick note this time. Just wanted to say again how thankful I am to all of my readers, you guys keep me excited about writing this story. I'd love some feedback on how you all are liking it so far! :) This chapter is bringing back some people of Ana's past, so you get a few more original characters. Let me know what you think of them so far!**

Their stop with Jody was short, she was still working her shift at the sheriff's office and couldn't get much time away. There was a long hug exchanged between the sheriff and Ana, the elder making it extremely clear how glad she was that the witch was okay and making it known that she expected to be called frequently by all of the Winchester, even more so if they were in trouble. The goodbyes went by quickly and it was about a half hour total before the four were getting back into the Impala to start the drive back to Kansas.

Dean had just started to pull away from the station when Ana's phone began to ring in her pocket. Making a confused face, all of the people that normally called her were sitting in the car, she pulled the phone out of her pocket and glanced at the screen. With raised eyebrows she answered the call and placed the phone to her ear, "Gwenevere?" she answered the phone as a habit, waiting for the woman on the other end of the phone to answer in turn, but when the only response she got was a weak, " _Ana."_ she knew something was wrong. "Gwen, what happened?" All of the men in the car had turned part of their attention to Ana's conversation, each worried by the concerned tone of her voice. When the young woman slumped in her seat they began to wonder further what this Gwen person was saying. "How long?" there was a quick pause and Ana sighed, "Uh, yeah, I can be there. I'll call you when I get into town. Bye, Gwen."

"What's going on?" Dean asked from the front seat, sending glances at his daughter via the rear view mirror.

Ana stared at her phone a moment before she slipped it back into her pocket, "Uh… that was an old friend from back home." she met her dad's eyes in the rear view mirror, "Her brother has been missing for a week."

"Like met a hot chick and has been holed up somewhere missing or something happened missing?" He wanted to know if she thought this was their type of thing.

She shook her head, "Kellen's not the kind of guy to up and disappear without a word to his family. Neither Gwen or their little sister Callie have heard from him in over a week." Brushing a hand through her hair, she sighed. Of course something else would happen to bring her back to her hometown, it was almost like she couldn't get away from it. "I don't know if it's our kind of thing or not, but I'm going to go do what I can to help find him."

"A tracking spell should make that pretty easy." Connor offered, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. He could feel her worry filtering through their bond and hoped he could comfort her.

Sam glanced at his brother, "If you want, we could come with you. Even if it's not our kind of thing we could lend a hand with the search." he knew that Dean had the same idea and was thankful that he could offer their help without his brother putting up a fight.

Ana shook her head, "You guys could all use some rest. I should be able to handle this one on my own." she assured them, knowing that while she had been in a coma for three days that none of the three men in the car with her had gotten much rest.

"Well, we can always get a motel when we get there. Let you scope things out with his family while we get some shut eye and then when you figure out what's going on we'll be ready to help." Dean stated, not ready to let Ana out of his sight after how long she had been in the hospital. "It's not that far of a drive from here, we can make it there by the end of the day and then we can all get some sleep. How's that sound?"

Slowly taking in the appearance of each man in the car, she realized that it wasn't likely any of them were about to let her go off by herself, not after the fear of losing her was still so fresh. "Sounds like a plan." she answered her dad, smiling slightly at the relieved look on his face at her agreement.

The inside of the car fell into a comfortable semi-silence, with the engine going the car was never actually silent and Dean had the radio on at a low volume, but everyone was preoccupied with their own thoughts as they exited Sioux Falls and started their drive to Montana. Ana snuggled into Connor's side as she thought about her childhood friends. Kellen, Gwen, and Callie had been her first real friends. Their home had been just around the corner from the one that Ana had grown up in and the closeness made it easy for the three to spend much of their time together as children. Now that she was thinking about him, it seemed like the fact that she had been climbing trees in her subconscious while she was in her coma could have been a likely sign of what was to come when she woke up. Kellen had been like an older brother to her and because she wasn't much into the extremely girly things that his younger sisters were, he had taught her things he thought were cool. Like how to make the best mud pies, worms included, or how to fix a bike if the chain came loose, and how to climb the tallest of trees without falling and getting hurt. The siblings had been the closest thing Ana had to extended family her entire life and she couldn't stand the thought of something happening to Kellen, leaving his family without him.

Connor could feel her growing more worried, she must have been pretty close to the missing brother, but if she had been, why hadn't she said anything about them or seemed to keep in contact with them? The question rolled around in his head for a while, coming up with likely possibilities, but he wouldn't actually know the answer unless he asked and he didn't want to breach the subject with her family around in case she didn't want to talk about it.

-A-

As the drive continued on, the conversation slowly picked back up. It was nothing serious, just random topics and playful banter when it was needed. Thankfully it helped make the drive seem to move by faster, but it was dark by the time they had crossed into the city and by the time they had gotten a couple of rooms at a motel they were all starving. Sam offered up the idea of ordering pizza so they didn't have to leave and that way they could get settled in the rooms before the food showed up. He called in the order as the rest of the family started grabbing their stuff out of the trunk. With their bags in hand Connor and Ana both headed for the same room, Dean having given the key to Connor for one room while keeping the other. "Where do you think you two are going?" Dean asked, raising an eyebrow at them just as they had reached the door.

"To our room?" Ana offered, returning his questioning expression with a confused one of her own.

Dean scoffed, "You two aren't sharing a room." he stated, slinging his bag over his shoulder and moving out of the way so Sam could grab his things now that he was off of the phone. "Ana you'll room with me."

The young witch rolled her eyes, "Dad, seriously? After everything we've found out recently and you think that you still need to separate us? We're freaking soul mates."

"Soul mates or not, you're not staying together. End of story." Dean gave her a stern look, one that dared her to argue.

"You're ridiculous! Do you really think the entire time we were dating before I left for school that we never stayed in the same bed?" She shook her head, "You're going to have to get used to us being together and you might as well start now." Without waiting for whatever fight Dean would put up she waved her hand, unlocking the door to their room so she didn't have to wait for Connor to unlock it and walked in, dropping her bag on the nearest bed.

"Anastasia Marie!" Dean called after her, ready to storm into the room she had walked into and pull her to the other room, kicking and screaming if he had to. Before he could take more than a step, he was stopped by Sam.

The younger brother rolled his eyes, "Dean, their adults and, like Ana said, they're kind of meant to be together. You can't pretend that she's a dumb teenager forever."

Connor took the chance of the brothers arguing to go into the room he would be sharing with Ana and closed the door, "You think that he would have gotten over this by now." he commented to her as he set his stuff down next to her's.

With a shake of her head, she fell back on the empty bed and began to massage her temples with her fingers, "I think he's overprotective because he wasn't around to be like this while I was an actual teenager." she turned her head so she could look at Connor, "Or he's losing what's left of his mind, it was bound to happen sometime with the life we live."

"He's a dad. No dad wants to think of their little girl growing up and finding another guy to share her love with." He moved to sit down next to her on the bed.

"But, he already shares my love with another guy." She explained with a soft smile.

Connor raised an eyebrow at her. Though they had been together for about a year before they went separate ways, neither of them had ever really used the 'L' word. "Oh really?" he questioned.

"Well, yeah, isn't it obvious?" Ana nodded, moving a little closer to him, a slightly dreamy look in her eyes as she looked into his. She took in a deep breath, a smile taking over her lips, "I love Sam too." she told him and then laughed as he rolled his eyes at her. "Oh, come on! You made that too easy!"

"You're ridiculous." He pointed out as the sounds of Sam and Dean talking loudly could be heard through their shared wall. Standing up, he moved over to the other bed to take off his jacket. "Weren't you supposed to call Gwen back?"

She nodded, "I'll just text her and let her know I'll be over to see her soon." Digging her phone out of her pocket, she sighed as she typed out the message, setting her phone down on the bed beside her when she was done.

Watching her for a moment, he sat back down on the bed next to her, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course." Ana answered, sitting up so that they could talk, she could already sense that this was going to be something more serious than your run of the mill question.

"If you were so close with this family, why haven't you mentioned them? Or seemed to be in contact with any of them?" Connor wanted to understand, because though he knew she had some friends when she left here to go live at the bunker with Sam and Dean, she had never spoken about any of them.

"Oh… uh…" She scrunched up her face, which was something he had come to understand as her trying to think about how to say something, "When Luke and I started dating, he got really possessive and kind of controlling. It didn't leave much time for my friends and because I wouldn't leave him, they got hurt. We still talked from time to time, but we lost touch and never really got it back."

Connor frowned, "The more I learn about Luke, the more I hate him." he confessed, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her close. "Hopefully everything works out and we find Kellen, then you guys can fix your friendships. You need people other than us in your life."

"Don't I know it. I'm surrounded by testosterone and it's going to drive me crazy." She teased, leaning into his side until there was a knock at the door and he got up to answer it. Once it was open, she could see her uncle standing just outside, hands in his pockets and one of his less angry bitch faces on.

"Pizza's here." Sam informed them before turning to head back to his room.

Ana got off of the bed and pushed Connor out of the door, ready to eat and then head over to Gwen's place so she could talk to her about Kellen. Walking into her uncle and dad's room, Ana could feel the slight tension rolling off of Dean, he was doing his best to control it. Apparently whatever talk he had with Sam had given him some perspective on the situation. "Sam ordered your favorite." Dean told her, extending a plate out to her.

"Thanks." She gave him a soft smile, knowing even though she felt that he was being completely irrational that it still had to be hard for him to come to terms with what was going on. After everyone finished eating, they cleaned up the small mess they had made and then sat down to discuss what the plan was going to be. "I don't really want to wait any longer to go see Gwen. So I'm thinking I'll go talk to her and Callie tonight, get as much information I can and then we can figure out what to do in the morning. Stop by and see Heather while I'm out there too, she'd freak out if she found out I was here and didn't see her."

Dean nodded, "Sounds like a good start. You sure you're good to do that alone?" he really didn't want to let her out of his sight, but he knew that having everyone around while she spoke to her friend would be a little awkward.

"Yeah, I think I'll have a better chance getting Gwen to talk if we're alone. Plus, I'm not sure how everything has been with them recently, might have to do some pushing to get answers and I know she wouldn't give me any if you guys came along." She answered, reaching for the bottle of water sitting in front of her on the table, "Add that on top of the fact that you all need to get some sleep and I'm not bringing anyone with me."

Connor shared a quick glance with Dean before looking back to Ana, "I don't really like the idea of you going out alone. We don't know where Jade is or what her next move is going to be, it could be dangerous for you to be out without backup."

With a roll of her eyes, Ana stood up from the table, "If I get attacked I'll be able to get myself out without much effort. I can teleport, ya know." she moved away from the table, ready to leave and get on with her task for the night. "You guys get some sleep, I'll be fine." With that one last reassurance, she teleported out of the room and to the space between Heather's house and the small shed that was in the backyard. It was a short walk from her childhood home to the house that her friends grew up in. Gwen had moved to a different city to go to college, but she had said on the phone that she was at her parents, most likely due to her brother's absence. Pausing as she reached the opposite side of the street as the house, she sighed when she saw that everyone was home, this wasn't going to be easy. Slipping her hands into her coat pockets, she jogged across the street and up the stairs to the front door, taking in a deep breath before she pulled her hand out of her pocket and knocked. When the door opened, Ana almost didn't recognize the teenager looking back at her. It wasn't until the girl was throwing herself at Ana, arms wrapping around her neck as she buried her face against the older girl's shoulder that the witch processed was going on. "Callie, shh.." she could feel the younger girl's body shaking as she cried, "It's going to be okay, we're going to get him back. Okay?"

Callie pulled away from Ana with a nod, her blonde hair was in a messy bun on top of her head and it looked like she hadn't changed out of her pajamas all day. Her normally big, brown eyes were pink and the skin surrounding them was puffy. Though Ana could still see the little girl that had spent much of her time driving her older siblings crazy, she had changed so much. She was almost as tall as Ana, even though she was three years her senior, and she had grown into the same petite build that both her mother and sister had. "You've changed so much, Ana." Callie commented, causing the redhead to realize that while she had been taking in her change in appearance, Callie had been doing the same.

"Not so much, Cal. I may look a little different, but I'm still me, just like I'm assuming you're still you." Ana wrapped an arm around the younger girl's shoulders and turned her toward the door. "Why don't we go find Gwen and your parents?" With a nod from the girl, Ana led her inside and closed the door behind them. "Mom, dad, I'm home." she called into the house as she had so many times before. It had become a joke when they were younger that Ana had spent so much time at their house that she had basically become a fourth child to them.

"Anastasia Marie Walker, is that you I hear?" Came a warm female voice from the back on the house. As Ana took off of her boots, she caught sight of the couple coming around the corner from the living room and into the entryway. Taking a moment to look at the woman in front of her, Ana sighed silently. Monica had always been a very professional looking woman; she wore nice clothes, her hair was always done, and even if it was just a little bit of makeup, she always had some on her face. Though it was clear that she had tried, none of it was done with much effort and Ana could tell that though she was trying to stay strong for her girls, that she was breaking on the inside. "We've missed you so much, honey, we just wish you were here under other circumstances." she spoke before moving to wrap the girl in a hug.

Ana returned it with a tight one of her own, "After we find him, I'll make sure to come back more often." she promised, looking over Monica's shoulder to get a look at Hank, her husband and the kids' father. He was just as tall and fit as Ana remembered, though he wasn't nearly as tall as Sam, and though his black hair held more grey in it than the last time she saw him, he still had the warmest of smiles for her.

Once Monica and Ana had separated, Hank opened his arms and Ana walked straight into them, giving a content sigh as he wrapped her in a comforting hug. Though she hadn't had any other family than Heather growing up, the Feragen family had been close enough and it was because of that fact that seeing them all this way was breaking her heart. "It's good to see you, Ana." Hank told her before releasing her.

The sounds of footsteps coming down the stairs pulled everyone's attention in that direction and Ana barely had time to brace herself before Gwen was throwing herself at her. Though it had been a long time since they had spoken last, Ana still considered Gwen her best friend and she couldn't stand the idea of her friend losing her brother. "I'm so glad you're here."

Ana hugged her friend tightly, hating to see her so upset, "I'm glad you called. I promise you that we're going to find Kellen in one piece. Everything is going to be okay." she reassured Gwen before pulling away from her, "Can you tell me where he was last? Anything that can help?"

"We've looked everywhere. There's been search teams, we've tried to track his cell phone." Monica shook her head, "The last place anyone saw him was at the shop after he finished his shift. After that it's like he just disappeared." she explained, fresh tears sliding down her cheeks.

Hank wrapped an arm around his wife, trying to provide comfort for her even if he knew it wouldn't work, "The last officer we spoke to said that they weren't dropping the search, but that it was probably best to prepare for the worst."

At his words Callie broke out in a sob, "He's not dead! He can't be!" she yelled before running up the stairs, too upset to hear anything else on the subject.

"I've brought some people with me, some family. They're pretty well known for picking up where the police have left off." Ana explained, knowing that she could do a tracking spell to find her missing friend, but that she was going to need something of his before she could do so.

"Family?" Gwen questioned with a confused look. Her family was well aware of the fact that after Ana's grandparents passed when they were young that the only family she had left was Heather.

The redhead nodded, "Uh, yeah. Last year I found my dad and his brother. I've been with them since the fall after we graduated." she explained. An odd silence took over as each Feragen took in that information. "Hey, I know it's getting kind of late and I don't want to be here keeping you guys up. Why don't we stop by in the morning and we'll see what we can do, okay?"

Monica and Hank both nodded, "We'll be here, honey. Thank you so much for coming." Monica told her, still trying to hold herself together.

"Good night." Hank gave her a soft smile as he turned to lead his wife up the stairs and to their bedroom.

Ana waited until she heard their bedroom door shut before she turned to look at Gwen, silently wondering to herself how the girl in front of her could look like the perfect combination of her parents. Though her coloring was all her father, with the black hair and the hazel eyes, her build was all her mother. "I know you and Kellen were close, did he tell you anything before he disappeared? Was he acting weird? Did he get into some sort of trouble?"

Gwen shook her head and sniffled, "No, nothing had changed. He was working at the shop, taking some courses online, and spending time with his friends. Same ol' Kellen." she answered.

With a slight frown, Ana pulled Gwen into another hug, "Why don't you try to get some rest tonight. I'll be back first thing in the morning and we'll start working on finding him, okay?"

"How are you so sure you can find him?" Gwen asked, noticing how her friend was certain in the fact that she would be able to.

"I have my ways." Ana told her with a small smile. "I'll see you in the morning, Gwen." she assured her before releasing her from their hug. Letting herself out, she closed the door behind her and looked around, making sure that no one was on the street to see her. Teleporting from the doorstep to the upstairs bedroom that used to be Kellen's before he moved out, she began to look around, trying to find something that she could use in a tracking spell. Moving toward the closet, she opened it quietly to find that they had kept the few things he had left behind and she was thankful when his letterman jacket was hanging there. He used to where that thing everywhere and she knew that it would be exactly what she needed her the spell. Quickly teleporting back to Heather's house, she looked into the windows to see if the lights were on so that she could stop by, but seeing that it was dark and it was almost ten at night, her aunt was most likely asleep. Deciding that she would call her in the morning, Ana teleported back to the motel room she was sharing with Connor to find him passed out on the bed they had been sitting on earlier. Quietly moving around the room, she contemplated doing the tracking spell herself and going to find Kellen on her own. Knowing that he could be hurt or in danger was driving her crazy, but she knew that if she went without someone for backup that she wouldn't hear the end of it and she refused to wake any of the men with her up because of how rough they had looked earlier. With those thoughts in mind, she moved over to the second bed and began to pull out clothes to change into. If she wasn't going to do anything now she might as well get some sleep.

Moving slowly through the motions of getting ready for bed, she hoped that it would help calm her down, but her mind was still running a million miles per hour. After brushing her teeth, she moved from the bathroom back into the main room, smiling slightly at the sounds of Connor's soft snoring. The first night they had spent together she had teased him about it, calling it cute. Knowing that she was going to have a rough night, Ana began to take their bags off of the second bed so she could sleep there and not disturb him, but just as she was getting ready to move the first bag she felt a warm hand rest against the side of her bare leg, just below the hem of her shorts, "Don't even think that I'm going to let you get away with sleeping in a separate bed." Connor's sleepy voice told her.

"I'm just going to keep you up. You need to get some sleep, I can sleep in this bed just fine." She assured him, turning slightly so she could brush one of her hands through his hair. "I know that you got little to no sleep while I was in the hospital and if we run into trouble while looking for Kellen I need you rested so you can have my back."

Connor grumbled, frowning at her, "If you don't get into this bed, I will force you to." he warned her, before tugging on her leg so that she fell forward and in the process landed slightly on top of him.

"I thought I had an option?" She questioned as she moved off of him, turning so that she was laying next to him instead of on top of him.

"I changed my mind." He informed her with a one shoulder shrug, "Now get under the blanket so I can snuggle you and go back to sleep."

Ana scoffed, "Has anyone told you that for being such a big, tough guy, you're super cuddly and clingy." she teased, knowing that she had pointed it out on more than one occasion.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you like it." Connor spoke with a content sigh as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her body against his. It had been a long time since they had slept in the same bed and it had been the cause of many sleepless nights for him. After he had gotten used to her body being next to his while they slept in her bed in the bunker he had never readjusted to sleeping alone. Placing a gentle kiss on the back on her neck, he smiled, "Night, Red."

"Goodnight." She whispered back. The old, familiar feelings of warmth and protection were beginning to settle in as they laid like that. It didn't take long for the effects of his even breathing and warm body to lull her to sleep.

-A-

When the dream started out, Ana knew instantly that it was a vision because of how vivid everything was. Though they were few and far between lately, she still had the occasional one and it seemed that this time was going to be stronger than any she'd witnessed before. This experience was so much different than any of the others. The first thing that hit her was the metallic smell of blood and a groggy feeling in her head. It was as if she had been knocked out cold, which was something she hadn't enjoyed the first time she'd experienced it and she didn't like it anymore now. As the fog slowly lifted and she was able to open her eyes, Ana realized that she didn't feel right. Something felt off, other than the fact that she had obviously been hit on the head and that she was tied up against something cold and made of metal. Wiggling her arms, she came to figure out two things. One that she was tied up with a rough rope and two, that she wasn't in her own body. Whoever she was watching this vision through was much bigger than her; the arms were too long and bulky to be her own. As the vision cleared in the person's head, the more they came to and she could tell that they were beginning to remember what happened because the body was becoming more tense.

"Hey!" A familiar voice yelled, the voice of the man tied up. "Frankie! You can't keep me tied up down here forever!"

It was that sentence that gave her what she needed to process what was going on. It was Kellen. She was seeing through his eyes as he was being held captive by someone named Frankie. As she processed this, footsteps could be heard from behind Kellen, the sound gradually grew louder and with what she could see from his point of view, it looked like he was being held in a basement. When the footsteps grew more silent, though they could still be heard, Kellen tensed further. It was when his captor, Frankie, moved into his line of vision that Ana realized what was going on, though she greatly wished she was wrong.

Frankie was a man of average height and a bulky build that was mostly from a poor diet, though it was clear that there was some muscle. The longer Ana looked at him, the more she recognized him and then she knew that her assumption was right. Oh, she was going to beat some sense into Kellen once he was safe.


	37. Chapter 37

_A/N at the end! :)_

When Ana woke up, she sat straight up and glanced over at the crappy clock on the bedside table. She had only been asleep for maybe thirty minutes, but any sleepiness she might have felt normally was replaced by adrenaline. Jumping out of bed quickly, she moved over to her bag and began to pull clothes out of it in a hurry, making sure that she had a pair of pants and a shirt, not caring if they matched or not. Opening Connor's duffle, she grabbed a pair of jeans and a white tee shirt before throwing both at him, startling him awake. "Get up!" she told him, beginning to take off her clothes.

With a groan, Connor rolled over to see Ana topless, "Red, you know I'm always down for getting naked with you, but I'd rather sleep."

"I know where Kellen is and if we don't hurry he may not live much longer." She informed him as she pulled a bra and then her shirt on. "Now get up and get dressed, I need you to start working on a tracking spell."

With one last groan he sat up and grabbed the clothes that she had thrown on him, making sure to pick up his speed as soon as he was up out of the bed. "I thought you said you knew where he was at?" he questioned, wondering why he needed to do a tracking spell if they already had a location.

"It's not so much that I know where, it's that I have an idea what happened and I will explain it all once I get the other two up. The jacket on the table is his, use it for the spell." She told him as she shimmed into her jeans. Sitting down on the bed, Ana quickly put her socks and boots on then ran to the door. Not even bothering to close it behind her, she took the couple of steps between their room and the one Dean and Sam were sharing before banging on their door, "Dad!" She yelled, knowing that if he heard her voice on the other side that it would make him move faster.

The sound of the two men in the room exchanging words was heard before the lock was turned and the door yanked open, "Ana? What's going on?" Dean asked, thankful that he hadn't been in a deep sleep otherwise he would have felt a little more groggy and by the look on his daughter's face he knew that they were going to be up against something very soon.

"It's Kellen. I know what's going on and we need to get to him now." Ana explained, being able to see her uncle getting out of his bed, grabbing some clothes, and heading toward the bathroom to change before she had finished speaking.

"Monster?" Dean questioned, rubbing a hand over his face.

There was a pause before she shook her head, "Humans." Her answer brought a scowl to her father's face, "I know this isn't our type of thing, but if someone doesn't help him, he's probably going to die and I can do this alone if you want me to, but I'd appreciate the backup."

"No way in Hell are you going into this alone. Humans are freaking nuts." Dean told her, looking over his shoulder as Sam came out of the bathroom. "I'll get dressed and meet you guys in the car."

Ana nodded in response before turning to go back to her own room, hoping that Connor had already started the tracking spell. Turning to walk into the room, she almost ran into him, "Hey, I've got a location. It's residential so I could only get down to the block of the street that they're on, think you'll be able to tell when we find it?" He asked, moving out of her way so that she could come in.

"I'll be able to sense him when we're close enough." Taking the piece of paper in his hand that he had written the information on, she moved passed him and quickly grabbed her jacket off of the bed. Looking over it, her expression grew tense, "Of course it's in this part of town. Alright, let's get going." As she turned toward the Impala the room to her father's room opened and he and Sam walked out.

The group walked toward the Impala and climbed into their usual seats without a word. Dean started the engine then he quickly pulled away from the parking space and drove toward the exit, "Alright, kid, which way am I headed?" he questioned, shooting a glance to Ana through the mirror.

"Go right. I'll tell you when your turn is coming up." She instructed, glancing once more at the piece of paper in her hand. Though she was from the biggest city in the state, it was pretty small compared to places like Chicago or Seattle, which was why she hated to think about where they were going. You always heard about the 'bad side of town' in larger cities, places where rent was cheap which would draw in people like drug dealers, gang members, and others in similar walks of life that either didn't have the money to pay more or chose to pay less for whatever reason. The so called 'bad side' of Billings wasn't very bad at all, it just had a bad reputation because of the small amount of homes that were lived in by certain people.

"So you wanna fill us in on what you know?" Sam questioned, wanting to know what they were walking in to. If they were dealing with humans like Ana had said, they needed to come up with a plan.

She sighed, "There's a family in the city, the Cortez family, and their the closest thing to a gang as it gets in Montana. Really, it's just a bunch of thugs thinking that because they can run drugs and shoot at people that they're some sort of bad asses. I have no idea what the hell Kellen did to get caught up with them, but they have him tied up in one of their basements."

Dean scoffed, "You realize how ridiculous that sounds, right? This is freaking Montana, majority population is white country folk and there are people trying to call themselves a gang here?"

"Trust me, the whole city knows how ridiculous the whole thing is, doesn't stop them from trying." Ana explained, looking passed her dad and out the windshield. "You're going to want to take a left at this light."

Connor's focus had been on Ana since they had gotten into the car. She was worried, anxious, and underneath the adrenaline racing through her system he could sense anger. "What could Kellen have done to end up being taken by these people?" he asked.

Ana's jaw clenched and she shook her head at the stupidity of the assumption she had, "It's pretty well known that they have methods of getting people outside of their 'gang' to run drugs and stuff for them. I don't know what exactly happened, but he better have a fucking good explanation for whatever it is otherwise I'm going to kill him myself." she looked out the window again, "Take a left at the next street then your first right after that."

Dean did as he was told, "Okay, so we just going to go in there guns blazing or what?" This whole thing was Ana's mission and he had faith in her to come up with a decent plan to get them all out alive.

"Intimidation is going to be our best bet. If they know that we're not in the least threatened by them it'll work in our favor. I'm sure they'll be armed, I can jam their guns with my power but it won't surprise me if some of them have knives on them." She sighed, "I would like to get out of there without any casualties, but if it comes down to it…"

Dean nodded, "We'll do what we have to."

"We should use as little magic as possible. Unless we absolutely have to, I think it's best that other than making their guns worthless we should steer clear of spells." Connor told her, hoping that she understood where he was coming from.

"We'll do what's necessary to keep ourselves from getting killed, but if it can be avoided, I agree. Last thing I want to do is waste time on a memory spell when we're done." She agreed, watching as her dad took the right she had instructed him to. "You can park anywhere around here. This is the location Connor got and I'll be able to sense everything better if we're not in the car."

They filed out of the car once Dean had parked it and though they hoped they wouldn't have to use them, everyone made sure they were carrying a pistol. The three Winchesters were always armed, but Connor had made it clear that unless he knew he was going to need one, he'd rather not carry a gun all of the time. Dean opened the trunk and pulled an extra pistol out, handing it to Connor. The witch took it and stuck it in the waistband of his jeans, before giving Ana a quick nod, letting her know he was ready.

Ana spread out her senses, opening herself to the surrounding area. She could sense families of four or five sleeping in the cramped space of the small houses of the area, old alley cats roaming around in the darkness, and a couple of houses at the end of the block that held groups of people still awake. "This way." she instructed walking further down the road from where they parked. The closer she got the more she was able to sense the people in the two house and she knew that Kellen was inside one of them. Closing her eyes, she focused on the vision she had, on everything about Kellen she had in her memory and she called to him with her magic, knowing he wouldn't answer but that she would be able to locate him. Stopping suddenly, she turned to look down an alley, noticing that the entrance to one of the houses she was focused on was in the alley. "There." she pointed to the only house with lights on down the small road. Leading the way, she paused just before the chain link fence that surrounded the place. "I'll go in first and disarm the guns." Without waiting for their agreement she pushed the door in the fence open and walked toward the house, straightening herself as she waved a hand at the door and it burst open, causing worried voices to come throughout the house. As she strode in, she was met by a group of seven men who were all pulling out guns and aiming them at her. Keeping her hands at her side, Ana twisted her hand in a slow motion, jamming every gun in the house, even the ones that weren't pointed at her. "You have two choices," Her words were filled with venom, "You can either set the man in your basement free or you can all enjoy a trip to the hospital tonight."

The men laughed, eyes flicking to the men that stepped up behind her, "And what's a girl like you going to do?" one challenged, taking a step forward.

Ana could feel her family at her back and knew without a doubt that they were going to be pissed about the way she was about to handle the situation in front of her. Walking forward until she was standing in front of the man that spoke, she looked up at him with a calculating expression. Not wasting another moment, she snaked a hand around his neck to the back of his head before pulling it down and raising her knee to meet his face. She heard the snap of his nose breaking before she shoved him away. The sound of others coming into the room made her turn to see the man that Kellen had talked to in her vision. "Frankie, you either let Kellen go or I personally send all of your boys to the hospital, possibly the morgue."

Frankie watched the girl in front of him for a moment, she looked familiar, and he was trying to place her. She had been in what few classes he had attended in high school, "Ana?" he questioned, wondering what the small, quiet girl was doing here threatening his family.

Stepping away from the bleeding man on the floor to stand in front of Frankie, she clenched her jaw, "Let him go or you won't like what comes next." Ana warned again, knowing that even slightly outnumbered her family could take these men on and make it out of the fight fine.

"Bitch broke my nose!" the other man spoke as he stood up, aiming his gun at her gun and pulling the trigger.

The audible click made each man standing next to the door jump and once they were assured that Ana's plan to disable the guns had worked, they relaxed slightly. As relaxed as it got for Connor as he stormed across the room, looping his arm in a swift action around the man's arm and twisting it in an odd angle that forced him to drop the gun. Connor caught the gun midair and slammed the butt of it into the man's temple.

Ana didn't need to turn to watch what just happened, she could feel Connor's movements and his anger. Keeping her focus on Frankie, she grinned devilishly, but before she could throw another threat he was throwing a punch toward her face. Blocking the attack was easy and she kicked him in the chest, driving him back, as she heard the sounds of the room breaking into action as the rest of the men attacked her family. Soft clicks could be heard as some of the men tried to fire their guns, but it slowly began to register with them that their weapons were useless. Moving quickly, Ana side stepped another fist flying at her, taking in the fact that she was now up against two men. She felt no fear as she defended herself, getting in a hit where she could at her opponents, but when she heard Connor cry out in pain it drew her attention away from her own battle to see him with a small blade sticking out of his back. The rage that flew through her body was close to none she had felt before and her reaction came from pure instinct. "Enough!" she yelled, her power washing over the room and forcing everyone, but her family, to their knees on the ground. As she took in her family, she noticed that Connor hadn't been the only one hurt. Sam's lip was busted and her dad was going to be sporting a black eye for the next few days.

" _Bruja."_ Frankie spat the word, eyes wide as he looked up at her.

Ana's jaw clenched as she turned her attention away from Connor, who was being helped by her uncle, and to the men at her feet. "At least you're smart enough to figure that out." she spoke to Frankie as Dean walked over to her. "Would you go to the basement and get Kellen? Sam needs to patch Connor up and I'm going to need to work a memory spell on these idiots."

"Maybe you don't have to." Dean offered, waiting for Ana to look at him before he continued, "I'm not saying tell the whole world, I'm saying let them remember what happens when you mess with the wrong people. No one's going to believe them if they tell, anyway."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Ana considered her father's words before turning to look over the men stuck on the ground, "Or I could just kill them all." she said with a nonchalant shrug. She wouldn't, there was no way she could bring herself to kill a human with her magic, not unless it was her life on the line. It wasn't though, she had the upper hand here and other than wanting to implant fear into the men on the floor, she knew her threat was empty.

Dean nodded, "You could do that too." He knew his daughter, he could see the lie in her eyes even if no one else around them could, but if she was still working with her original plan he had to play along.

"It'd just be a waste of my power." She sighed and squatted down until she was eye level with Frankie. "This is how it's going to go, Frankie. You are going to get to live through this and so are your little pals, but I have a few conditions. One, you keep your hands off of the people that matter to me. That includes the three men here with me now, Heather Walker, and Kellen Feragen's entire family. If I hear you even thinking about pulling Kellen back into whatever arrangement you have with him now, I will kill you myself and it will be extremely painful. Are you with me so far, Frankie?" When the man in front of her nodded, fear filling his eyes, she grinned. "Good. As for my second condition, it's more for my own peace of mind than anything. I know what you do, I know the drugs you run and the scams you play, but I can't control everything... " she glanced up at her dad for a moment, "Well, actually I could, but like I said, waste of my power." she turned her attention back to Frankie. "You keep your business away from the kids. I don't give a damn about the people coming to you asking for it, but if I find out that you're pushing drugs on minors like your older brother did when we were in high school, I will skin you alive. Do we have an agreement?" Frankie nodded frantically, seeming to be at a loss for words. "Then it looks like we're all settled, except for the man you're keeping in the basement. I'm going to be taking him with me."

Sam and Connor watched Ana talk to the leader, Sam holding pressure to the wound in Connor's back. It wasn't a deep wound, but it was still bleeding and he wanted to make sure they got it to stop before they did anything else. Sam had turned his attention back to the wound, but Connor watched as Ana stood up and walked toward them. Their connection was wide open and he could feel her fear for him along with the hatred for the situation they were in. "Go get Kellen, we'll meet you outside. This needs to be covered up." Sam spoke to Ana and Dean, knowing that they needed to stick in pairs until they were away from the threat, even if Ana had them held down.

Dean pulled the keys to the Impala out of his pocket, "Why don't you pull the car around so we don't have to walk all the way back with Kellen. He may be in bad shape."

"We'll get it pulled around so we're ready when you are." Connor offered, his wound could wait the short time it would take for them to walk to the car and then drive it to the house.

"It won't take us long." Ana told them, sending Connor a warm, loving feeling across their bond before turning and heading for the stairs that led to the basement. Her magic was still holding the men down, keeping them there until she released it, which she didn't plan on doing until they had left. Once they had found the stairs, Ana hurried down them, being able to feel Kellen more the closer they got. When they reached the bottom, she looked to the left and saw her friend tied up to a large pipe that must have been part of the plumbing system. "Kellen?" she called, watching him stir as she rushed over to him. Sliding to her knees once she was close enough, the sad sigh that escaped her was involuntary, but the bruising and dried blood on his face looked terrible.

"Kellen?" she asked, softer this time.

He blinked slowly, both eyes slightly swollen due to the damage on his face, "Ana?" he questioned, groaning as he spoke. "What… what are you doing

here?"

Dean walked over to them, his knife pulled out so he could begin to saw through the ropes. When he touched Kellen's wrist, the boy jumped, "Woah, you're alright, kid. Calm down."

"He's just going to cut the ropes, Kellen. We're getting you out of here." she assured him, using her senses to take in the damage to his body that couldn't be seen on the surface. Two broken ribs, one cracked, other than that everything else was just bruised and sore.

"How'd you find me?" He questioned, voice soft because speaking any louder required more air and breathing was hard enough as it was.

Ana sighed, "I'll explain everything once we're out of here and we can get some of your wounds taken care of, alright? For now just let us get you out of here."

A thought struck him and his eyes went as wide as they could considering their swollen state, "Ana, what about Frankie? Where are they at? You shouldn't have come, you'll get hurt." Kellen's words were rushed and filled with fear.

"They've been taken care of." She assured him, watching as his arms sagged once Dean had cut through all of the rope. "Alright, let's get you out of here. Dad?" she asked, knowing that she wouldn't be able to carry Kellen's weight herself.

"Dad?" Kellen questioned as the man walked into his view, closing his knife and sliding it back into his pocket.

With a small nod, he knelt down, "Dean Winchester, nice to meet you." he offered with a slight smile, the kid looked like hell. "I'm going to help you get up and we're going to get you out of here, alright?" When Kellen nodded, Dean grabbed one of his arms and turned so that he could pull it over his shoulders, something he had done with Sam many times before. As he began to extend his legs to stand up, the kid cried out in pain and Dean stopped, carefully lowering him back to the ground.

"He has some broken ribs and one's cracked." Ana told him, having forgotten how much of a problem that would cause for moving him. Taking a moment to think, she sighed, "I'll teleport him out to the car, then I'll come right back. If my threats are going to stick I think I'm going to have to make one last show to freak them out."

Dean nodded, "Well you're doing a good job of that. I don't think I like watching you play the bad guy."

"Trust me, I'd rather not have to be this way around humans either." She assured her dad before resting a hand on Kellen and using her power to teleport them into the back seat of the car that Sam already had parked in the alley. A look of shock took over Kellen's face, "Don't freak out. I'll explain everything once we're out of here. Just trust me, Kel, please?" When her words didn't seem to be getting through to him, she placed the tips of her fingers to his temples and whispered a soft spell, putting him to sleep. With a sigh, Ana stepped out of the car and moved around to the trunk, wanting to check on Connor. Sam was putting tape over a bandage. "All patched up?" she questioned.

The two men glanced at her, "Yeah, it wasn't bad, it just didn't want to stop bleeding." Sam explained as he put the last piece of tape in place.

"Kellen's asleep in the back seat. Dad and I are going to play one last round of wicked witch before we leave. Shouldn't take too long." She told them both before teleporting back into the basement where Dean was waiting for her. "Alright, let's get this over with."

The pair turned and moved back towards the stairs in silence. It was funny how they had only known each other for just over a year, but they could read each other and work the same thought process without speaking. Though she was a great deal like her mother, there was no doubt that she was just as much like her father. When they walked back into the room where the men were stuck to the floor, the fear was almost tangible. "Well we got what we came for…" Ana began, slowly walking around the group, taking in each man, "If I have to come back here again, I can assure you I'm going to leave a much bigger mess. There's something about the way an exploding human body makes a statement." she stopped just in front of Frankie, knowing that if she placed enough fear in him that he would make sure his men followed the agreement they had made. "I really don't want to have to come back here and I'm assuming that you don't really want to see me again, so you keep up your end of our bargain and I won't have to come back to kill you. Are we still clear?"

"Yes." Frankie assured her, ready for Ana to leave and never come back. The stories his grandmother had told him of witches being in league with the devil all flooding from the recesses of his memory.

"You're a weak bitch." A man spoke, the same man who had first spoken to her when they had come in, the one with the broken nose. "Hiding behind your tricks because you can't put up a real fight."

Ana's eyes flicked from Frankie to the other man, her eyes falling on the dried blood beneath his nose. "Oh, Frankie, you're going to have to learn to control your men if you want them to live." Turning to look at her dad, he simply gave her a curt nod, knowing what she was about to do and wanting her to know that he had no problem with it. As she walked across the room, she released the power holding him to the ground, "Obviously you're a slow learner, but if it's going to take a couple more broken bones to get the point across…" she shrugged, watching as he stood up once the pressure on him had been released. He didn't waste any time closing the distance between them, raising his leg to aim a kick at her torso, but Ana quickly blocked it. As she pushed his leg aside, she closed the remaining space and struck her fist against his jaw, forcing him to stagger back slightly.

"Damn it, Pete, you should have kept your mouth shut." Frankie yelled at his friend, knowing that though Ana was small, that she was more than capable of taking him down. Hell, she had almost taken down him and Joe teamed up together.

Pete spit blood on the floor, eyes filling with a fresh anger and he took two quick strides toward Ana. He swung first with his right hand, which Ana was able to block, but his left hand followed so quick afterward that she didn't have time to turn and block his fist from making contact with her ribcage.

Ana winced, it was a solid hit and though it hurt she had dealt with worse pain in the middle of a fight. A look passed over her face that was pure Winchester concentration, the kind where everything else shut down and the only thing to focus on was the enemy you were up against. Her next moves were quick, a speed she was sure she hadn't reached before, but one she knew her father was a master at since she had learned it from him. She gave Pete no chance to make another move as she took a step toward him, wrapping both of her arms around his as he tried to hold her back by her shoulders. Using all of her strength, Ana pulled him toward her then with all the force she could muster, she slammed her head against his, causing a disoriented look to cloud his eyes. Dropping his arms, she raised her elbow as she turned slightly and smashed it against his temple. Another step brought her closer and she was able to grab onto his shoulder with both of her hands, pulling down as she jerked her knee into his stomach with enough force to make him double over.

She watched him wrap his arms around his stomach in pain and took a breath, noticing for the first time the trickle of blood coming from her lip. Brushing it away, she felt the split in the skin and sighed, that was going to hurt tomorrow. Noticing that he wasn't moving, she lifted her leg and with little force, pressed it into his side, causing him to fall to the ground. "Oh, come on Pete. I'm not even putting up a real fight, just hiding behind my tricks." Ana used his words against him. When all he did was grunt at her, she shook her head, "Looks like that's over." Turning, she made eye contact with Frankie, "Don't screw up and I won't have to come back." she gave him one last warning before looking at her dad. In silent agreement they turned toward the door they had come in and left.

Once they were outside, Dean stopped Ana with a hand on her shoulder. "You alright?" he asked, taking a look at her lip.

"I'll be fine." There was no doubt she would hurt after the adrenaline wore off, but it wouldn't be anything she hadn't dealt with before. Actually, it's was all small stuff compared to other wounds she had gotten while hunting or up against the many demons that had come after her.

"Ana?" Connor's concerned voice pulled her attention toward the direction of the car. "What happened?" he asked as the two headed his way.

She shrugged, "Just had to prove a point. I'm fine. Its Kellen still passed out?" By the time she was finished with her question she was standing in front of Sam and Connor with her dad at her side.

"Yeah, he looks like he's in pretty rough shape." Sam pointed out, noticing that his niece was sporting the same split lip he was.

"Other than the obvious damage to his face, he has two broken ribs and one that's cracked. Some pretty bad abdominal bruising too." Ana explained with a soft sigh, "Let's get him back to the motel and then we can figure out what to do next."

Dean paused, "There's not going to be enough room for all of us in the car with Kellen taking up the whole backseat."

Connor thought a moment, "Ana and I will teleport back to the room. Seems we could both use some healing and then when you're back with Kellen, we can do the same for the rest of you."

"Sounds good. Will he sleep the whole way there?" Sam asked Ana.

"He should, the spell I used was pretty strong." She explained, "As long as you don't get lost or something, he shouldn't wake up until your back to the motel or after."

Dean and Sam just nodded before getting into the car. Once the engine was started and they had begun to pull away from the house, Connor and Ana looked at each other for a moment before they both teleported inside of their motel room. "Healing spell?" Connor asked, not liking the way the split skin of her lip looked as if it was only getting worse the more she talked.

"Healing spell." She nodded in agreement and both turned to the bed that had their bags on it. Before they could even begin to grab what they needed they were stopped by the sound of wings.

"Or you could just let us heal you and save a little time." Gabriel spoke with a grin as the witches turned around to look at him.

Ana gave him and Cas both a warm smile, it always felt weird to her when they went hours without seeing either angel and she was glad that they were here now. "Dad and Sam are going to be back soon, both of them are pretty beat up and then there's my friend Kellen who is worse off than the rest of us."

Cas walked over to Ana and placed his fingers on her forehead. The rush of energy that was Castiel's grace filled her and when it was gone, he smiled down at her, "We will heal you all, you should know that it's not a problem, Ana."

"What's this about a friend of yours?" Gabriel asked as Cas moved to heal Connor next. The archangel moved to take a seat at the small table in the room, ready to be filled in on what his favorite witch/hunter had been up to while he was gone.

"He got mixed up with some gang members and they hurt him pretty bad. We got him out and he's with Sam and dad, they're on their way here." Ana explained, "Just as a general rule, can we not deal with humans like this again? It's tiring to deal with and I really just don't have the patience for it." she whined, mostly to Connor.

Castiel healed him quickly and then Connor moved around him to stand in front of Ana, he grabbed both of her hands in his own and gave her a soft smile. "You scared them pretty badly, I'm certain they'll do what you asked and if not, I know a few hexes that can make things interesting."

She laughed softly, which had been his main goal, "I think we'll leave the hexes alone until they do something wrong. Hopefully they don't, but people-"

"Are crazy." Dean finished for her as he walked through the door, both he and Sam carrying Kellen in as he was still asleep. "People are freaking crazy." he grumbled. Shifting Kellen's arm that was over his shoulder so that he and Sam could work to lay him down on the empty bed. When they finally had the unconscious man on the bed, he turned as if finally noticing that Cas and Gabe were in the room. "Hey guys, any news?"

Castiel moved towards Dean and placed his fingers on Dean's forehead, "There's been no word of Jade. Though we assume that she's plotting her next move, either one of revenge or to continue on their original plan of releasing Lucifer from the cage." he explained as he healed his friend, turning to see that Gabriel had already healed Sam and had moved to the bed to heal the man he was assuming was Ana's friend.

"Gabe?" Ana asked, causing the angel to pause as he reached the side of the bed. "When you heal him will you wake him up?"

"Sure thing, princess." Gabriel told her with a grin, placing his hand to the kid's forehead and healing his wounds, which took slightly longer than it had with Sam since his wounds weren't as extensive.

Ana watched as Gabriel healed Kellen, watching as the damage to his face slowly vanished. Once Gabe pulled his hand away, Kellen began to move, eyes fluttering open as he did. "Ana?" he asked, eyes finally focusing on the one thing he could see laying down and that just so happened to be Gabriel's smirking face.

Moving quickly, she moved around Gabriel and sat on the side of the bed next to her friend. "Hey, Kellen. It's okay, you're safe." she assured him, placing a comforting hand on top of his.

"What happened? How did you get me out of the house?" Kellen questioned as he sat up, finally seeming to realize that he was no longer in pain and that he could clearly see out of both eyes. When he was finally sitting he could finally see everyone else and his eyes looked at each of the five men cautiously.

Ana sighed, "It's kind of a long story and I promise that I'll explain everything-"

"Like how one minute we were in the basement of that house and the next we were in the backseat of a car?" He asked, everything slowly coming back to him, "And how you found your dad and forgot to tell me?" His eyes focused on Dean, sizing the man up.

"You used your magic in front of him?" Gabriel asked, sounding kind of shocked.

She rolled her eyes and stood up off of the bed, "We couldn't move him up the stairs because of his ribs, so yeah, I teleported. Got a problem with that?" her hands moved to her hips as she raised an eyebrow at Gabe, wondering why he seemed to care.

"No, no, no. Just go around using your powers in front of every human you come across, why don't you?" He muttered sarcastically.

"Uh, Ana…" Kellen stood up from the bed next to her, adding to the group of men that basically toward over her, "Who are all of these people?"

She paused and looked around at everyone before turning to look at Kellen, her already thin patience completely gone, "Well you've already kind of met my dad, Dean." she pointed to him, "Then there's my uncle, Sam, the archangel Gabriel, his angel brother Castiel, and my soul mate, Connor." she pointed to each man in turn and held back a laugh at the expression on Kellen's face. "If I'm going to make it through the rest of this night I'm going to need a drink." she commented.

"I'll get the whiskey." Dean turned and left the room to go over to his own, knowing that there were at least two bottles between his and Sam's stuff. If they were going to get through everything that night, it was going to be a long one and after having to watch his daughter fight some thug, he was already at the point where he could drink a bottle on his own. Quickly getting the bottles out of their bags, he grabbed the extra cups out of their room and went back to join everyone else. When he reentered the room Gabe, Cas, and Sam were sitting at the table, Connor and Ana were over in a corner talking in hushed tones, and Kellen was sitting on the bed he had woken up on looking like he was in shock. "Alright, let's get this started." Dean announced as he sat the bottles and cups on the table.

 **A/N: New follows and favorites! I love it! Hey guys, so what do you think of this small subplot with Kellen and the human bad guys? I'd love to know what you think, I really wanted to incorporate some of the other people from Ana's past and this is just kind of how it happened. There's still a lot to come with Jade, the cage, Lucifer, and Michael, so be prepared for that. Let me know what you like! Or don't like, either way, I just love to hear from you!**

 **Hope you enjoyed the update :)**


	38. Chapter 38

**A/N: Hello my dear readers! I wrapped up this chapter in my new AKF shirt, it gave me all the feels and excitement. Big thanks to everyone who continues to follow my story and also to the newer follows and favorites. You guys make my heart happy :) Here's my latest installment, let me know what you think.**

 **eldaearien: Thank you for the review! These new characters are so great to write. Be prepared for lots of fun ;)**

After a few drinks and a long explication, with commentary from everyone in the room, Ana sat on the floor in front of the bed that Kellen sat on, waiting for him to process everything and say something. Gabriel walked over to the pair, standing next to Ana, he looked down at her as he spoke. "I think you broke him, princess."

"Shut it, Gabe. It's just a lot to take in, he needs some time to think through it all." she smacked his leg with the back of her hand.

Dean stood up from his seat at the table, carrying a cup with amber colored liquor it in. While he, Sam, Connor, and Ana had been drinking since they had opened the bottle, Kellen had dismissed the offer. Holding the cup out, Dean sighed, "You look like you could use this now."

It was like Dean's words brought Kellen back to life and he stood up quickly, panic filling in the blank look that had been in his eyes moments before. "So you two are witches," he gestured back and forth between Connor and Ana, "These two are angels and then you have the two normal, human guys that kill monsters." He had began to pace, bringing his thumb to his mouth to bite at the nail.

"Stop biting your nails, Kellen." Ana chided out of reflex. It had been a bad habit of his since they were kids and his mother had basically programmed it into the girls to tell him to stop any time they saw it.

Kellen stopped and turned to look at her, "Really, Anastasia? You just get done telling me that you're a witch and you're going to worry about me biting my nails?"

She laughed softly, "You may have a point." Standing off of the floor, she walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I know it's a lot to take in, but I need to make sure you understand that you can't tell anyone about this. Not Heather or Callie, not even Gwen."

He sighed, though he was panicking on the inside at having to digest all of this new information, he could tell that Ana was just as worried that he would accidentally tell someone he wasn't supposed to. "Of course I understand that this is a secret, Ana." he wrapped her in a hug, "I've kept many of your secrets over the years, I'm not going to start spilling them now."

"You know secrets?!" Gabe hurriedly moved toward them, basically ripping Ana away from Kellen. "Tell me everything!"

Dean shook his head and downed the whiskey that he had offered Kellen, "Gabe, he just said he wouldn't tell anyone anything." He pointed out as he walked over to them, "So how much will it cost for me to get them written down?"

Ana shook her head, "You two are ridiculous."

"Well at least I know where you get it from now." Kellen told her with a grin, before turning to give the room another look. His eyes landed on Connor, "So… on top of all the crazy, you two are soul mates as well, right?" he questioned, turning his attention back to Ana.

She nodded, "So says the archangel and though Gabe has his days, when it comes to stuff like this he's normally right."

"Normally right?" Gabe questioned, sounding offended. "Of course I'm right, even Cas will agree with me, this pairing has been in the works almost as long as John and Mary were."

Castiel nodded, "It is true, Ana. Though technically not as high on the scale as the creation of Dean and Sam, the offspring created between the Mohr and Good witch lines is just as needed as both of them." he gestured to the Winchester men.

Kellen strode over to Connor, who had moved to sit at the table with Sam and Cas, and glared down at him, "You may be soul mates or whatever, but if you hurt her, witch or not, I will end your life."

"Alright." Ana hurried over to Kellen, pushing him back, "I know you like to go into overprotective, big brother mode, but he's already gotten the warning from everyone in this room, but Cas. I think it's a safe bet that he's not going to hurt me." When Kellen wouldn't focus on her, his eyes still glaring at Connor, her jaw tensed. "Kellen Robert Feragen, do you want me to kick your ass?"

The tone in Ana's voice pulled his attention away from the witch at the table and he looked down at her, "I haven't seen you in years, Ana, and now you come back to save my hide, then drop all of this on me." he sighed, "I just want to make sure that you're going to be okay, after everything you've been through, ya know?"

Ana's expression softened, she did know. When she had been tortured as a child Kellen and Gwen had been by her side for days afterward, never leaving her alone and reassuring her that everything would be fine. Even as the mental damage of what happened seemed to bury itself in the back of her mind, Kellen had been there to comfort her anytime it resurfaced. "I know it's a lot, but trust me when I say that with these guys is probably the safest place for me. You've always been family, but they're family too, so you're just going to have to deal with your pseudo little sister being a witch and having a soulmate." she poked him in the chest once before giving him a smile. "Plus, they know I can take them all on."

"Someone's full of herself." Dean muttered as he filled his cup up with more whiskey.

"Like we don't know where she picked that trait up from." Sam commented, causing both Gabe and Connor to snicker.

With a shake of her head, Ana turned away from Kellen to glance at the one clock in the room. "Alright, I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to sleep." she told everyone. Though Gabriel's grace had healed her hours before, it seemed the her body was catching up to the fact that other than the coma and the restless thirty minutes of sleep she had gotten with her vision of Kellen, she hadn't rested much at all.

"Ana's right. We could all use some rest, guess it's time to call it a night." Sam agreed as he stood up from his spot at the table.

Kellen hadn't realized how late.. early it was. The sun was due to come up in the next hour or so and he was ready to actually sleep in a real bed, instead of being knocked unconscious, tied up in a basement. "I guess I'll head home."

His words made Ana look back to him, "Yeah, there's no way you're going home right now. Your family has been searching for you for over a week and if you suddenly appear back at your apartment looking fine, there are going to be too many questions that we don't want to answer to. You can crash on the extra bed in here and in the morning we'll figure out what we're going to tell everyone."

"But…" He began to argue, but she quickly cut him off.

"But nothing. Just trust me on this one, alright? We have the extra bed, all Connor and I have to do is clear our bags off and it's yours for the night." She explained, "Once everyone has had some sleep, we can figure out our next move."

Sam and Dean gathered up their jackets and the one, almost empty bottle of booze left. "She's got a point." Dean offered as help, before giving Ana a one arm hug. "We'll see you guys in the morning." he said as he released her and headed for the door.

Cas and Gabe shared a look, "Guess we'll go see if we can track down anything new on Jade. If anything comes up, we'll let you know." Gabe informed everyone before he and his brother quickly disappeared.

Kellen's eyes went wide as the sudden disappearance. "Don't think too hard on it, kid. It will just give you a headache." Dean told him before giving them each one last look and walking out the door, shortly followed by Sam.

Connor stood up and walked over to Ana, tilting her head up so he could get a good look at her face. "You should have gone to bed hours ago." he commented, being able to see the exhaustion settling into her eyes.

"I'm fine." she assured him with a small smile, "Though I call first dibs on the bathroom for changing." With that, she grabbed a pair of sweats and an old tee shirt out of her bag before heading toward the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

"You're good for her." Kellen spoke up, giving Connor a weary glance before sitting down at the foot of the bed with the bags still on it. "When she was with Luke it was like she was a completely different person, she wasn't Ana anymore. I've seen you with her all of a couple of hours and can tell you do the exact opposite."

Connor turned to look at Kellen, seeming to take him in for the first time. When he had threatened him all Connor saw was another guy he would have to handle being watched by for being in Ana's life, but as he looked at him now, he could see that there was more to him than that. "She's different, probably more so than whatever Luke had caused, but she's stronger because of it. Everything that has happened in the short amount of time we've known each other has taken a toll on her, but I personally think that she was destined to become this person. Sass and all." he spoke as he moved over to the bed Kellen was on and gathered up their bags to move to the ground.

"Are you saying I'm sassy?" Ana questioned as she came out of the bathroom, her dirty clothes bundled in her arms.

Connor grinned, "I've been trying to say that for a while, but you believe it as much as Gabriel does about himself." he teased, placing two of their three bags on the table and the other near their bed. Ana shook her head at him, dropping her clothes in her bag then taking her pistol over to the bed and hiding it under her pillow. "Here." Connor grabbed a tee shirt and some sweats out of his bag, turning to hand them to Kellen.

"Thanks." Kellen muttered, taking the clothes and heading for the bathroom to change. Once the door was shut behind him, he sucked in a deep breath and moved toward the sink. Turning on the cold water, he splashed his face a couple of times before turning it back off. It had been years since he had seen Ana and not only had she saved his life, but she had opened his eyes to a part of the world he wasn't certain he was ready for.

After the bathroom door closed Ana sighed and sat down on the bed, looking over at Connor as he grabbed another set of clothes out of his bag for himself. "So I've been thinking…"

"That's always trouble." He teased, turning around to look at her. With a soft sigh at the worried expression on her face, he moved over to the bed and sat down next to her. "What's on your mind, Red?"

Stifling a yawn, she rested her head against his shoulder. "I think that I should spend a couple of days here. With everything going on with Jade and cage, Michael and Lucifer... " she paused a moment, the weight of what all was going on in her life seeming to come down on her again, "Just take what little time I have and spend some of it with Heather, Kellen, and his family. I've been so caught up in all of this witch and hunting stuff that I haven't been making anytime for the normal people in my life."

Connor wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, "Sometimes I think we all forget that you have people outside of our little group that are important to you. It's easy to lose focus of those who aren't in direct danger from what we're in the middle of." He kissed the top of her head, "How about we stay in town for a couple of days? You can introduce me to the rest of Kellen's family, show me around town? Then when you've had your fill of them or we need to go off on a job, we'll leave?"

"I like the sound of that." She agreed, snuggling into his side. "After we get everything taken care of in the morning, I'll tell dad and Sam about our plan. Gabe and Cas can keep us updated on any movement from Jade and if they need us we can go to help."

Connor nodded, "I have a feeling that we're not going to hear anything on Jade for a while. She'll need to find another way to open the cage and I don't see that as being an easy task."

"Oh, you have a feeling?" Ana raised an eyebrow at him, "Since when are you the psychic in this relationship?"

"You're psychic too?" Kellen asked as he walked out of the bathroom, brow furrowed in question.

She sighed and unwrapped herself from Connor so he could go change. "Sort of. I have visions sometimes."

Slowly nodding, he made his way over to the bed he would be spending the night in and sat down on it so that he was facing Ana. "So… can you tell me the winning lottery numbers?" he asked with a teasing grin.

Connor chuckled and went into the bathroom to change. Ana shook her head and turned to face Kellen, "If I could do that, don't you think I would be staying somewhere a bit classier than this rundown motel?"

He shrugged his broad shoulders, "I've always known you've liked the trashier things in life." The statement was said as he tried to fight back a laugh at his own words.

Ana's jaw dropped in disbelief, but she quickly composed herself. Snapping her mouth closed, she aimed a glare at him before snatching a pillow off of her bed and throwing it at him. He was too busy laughing to block it so the pillow smacked him right upside the head. "I may not be the classiest woman out there, but I am far from trashy. Thank you very much."

"I feel like I came back into the room at the wrong moment." Connor muttered as he exited the bathroom, now wearing a pair of sweats and a tee shirt.

"This heathen had the nerve to call me trashy." Ana crossed her hands over her chest and stood up, walking away from both of the beds.

Kellen slowly pulled himself together, shaking his head at Ana with a big grin on his face, "Oh, come on, you know you've missed my sense of humor!" He had missed teasing her, it was so easy to get her worked up in a huff, but she'd also cool down quickly. It was one of the things that made it easier for them to get along than it had been with his sisters. Once he'd gotten them started, they would stay mad for days.

Connor glanced back and forth between the two, being able to sense that Ana wasn't really mad at all, but just messing with Kellen. It was nice to see her relaxing a little. With everything going on with the cage and Jade, she'd been so tense with worry. With the roll of her eyes, he watched her turn around to face Kellen again, "I guess I missed it a little." She gave him a soft smile before yawning.

"And that's the que. Get in bed, Ana, you need to rest." Connor instructed. Moving toward the door of the room to lock it and turn off the lights. The sun was just barely peaking over the horizon so the sky was light enough outside to allow them to see where they were going in the room. By the time he turned around to walk back to the bed he would be sharing with Ana, she and Kellen were both laying down. Quietly, he moved across the room and climbed into bed, smiling to himself as Ana moved closer to him. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her body closer to his, finding comfort in her presence just as he could feel she felt from being wrapped in his arms. "Good night." he whispered to her, placing a kiss just behind her ear before closing his eyes and letting his exhaustion pull him under.

-A-

"Come on, Ana, time to wake up." Connor placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her slightly. He and Kellen had been up for a while, both already showered and in fresh clothes, Kellen in more that Connor leant him. He sighed and shook his head as she grumbled at him, covering her head up with the bed's comforter.

"She's always been like that. I can't tell you how many creative things Gwen and I came up with to get her to wake up when we were younger." Kellen commented, taking a sip of the watered down coffee he had brewed shortly before in the room's small, dingy coffee pot.

Connor glanced over at him, "You think after spending three days in a coma, she'd feel a little more rested and be easier to get up." He turned and looked back at the lump under the blankets that was Ana. "Red, if you don't get up I will go get your dad and let him get you up."

She groaned, "I will lock you out of the room the moment you leave."

"You and I both know a locked door can't keep me or either of the men next door out of here. Now get up. It's just passed ten and we still need to figure out what we're going to tell everyone about where Kellen's been." He told her, moving toward the door suddenly and opening it to reveal both Dean and Sam on the other side, the latter with his fist raised to knock.

Dean shook his head as he walked in, "You and your witchy senses." Giving a quick glance around the room, his eyes fell on the human shaped lump under the blankets on one of the beds. "Can't get sleeping beauty to wake up?"

"He's been trying for ten minutes." Kellen offered from his perch against the counter attached to the sink across the room.

Dean scoffed, "Connor's too nice to her. Sometimes," he directed his words to the witch himself, "you have to get mean." Walking over to the bed, he stood at the foot of it and threw the bottom of the blankets back. He quickly grabbed around her ankles and pulled her down the bed, causing her let out a small sound of surprise and land on the floor with a thud.

Pushing herself up, Ana glared at her father, choosing to ignore the snickers of the other men in the room. "One of these days-"

"Don't even waste your time threatening me. Now get up and get dressed, we have stuff to do today." Dean instructed, arms crossed over his chest as he looked down at her.

She moved quickly, sweeping her legs against his which effectively knocked them out from underneath him and caused him to come crashing to the floor. Grinning, she stood up, "Come on, dad, get up. We have things to do today." Ana stuck her tongue out at him before turning to grab her duffle and walk into the bathroom.

Dean grumbled as he got up off of the floor, glaring at his brother who was laughing. "What?" Sam questioned, "You've had that coming for a while."

"Whatever. Bitch." Dean moved to sit at the table.

"Jerk." Sam instantly responded, watching his brother move with a slight gimp in his step. He did land pretty hard on his hip, but it was too good not to chuckle at again. "So, we need to come up with a convincing story to tell everyone about why Kellen was missing for so long." he offered the change of subject.

Kellen shrugged, taking another drink from the flimsy paper cup in his hand. "You mean we shouldn't tell my family and the police that I was kidnapped and beaten by a gang of drug dealers because I didn't make a money drop on time and that I was saved by a couple of witches and two guys that hunt monsters?"

"That last part might get you locked up in a mental hospital." Connor commented, moving to sit next to Dean. "You guys are good at making up stories on the fly, you should be able to come up with something believable, right?" he looked back and forth between the Winchester brothers.

They shared a look, seeming to communicate something before Sam spoke out loud. "If we can convince his family that whatever happened wasn't bad, we may not even need to deal with the police." He offered, sounding hopeful.

"No, because then they'll still have a missing persons out for him and if for whatever reason something happens, they pull his name up in the system and there will be even more questions." Dean shook his head, dealing with the police was going to be the hardest part.

"I've got an idea!" Came Ana's voice as she threw open the bathroom door and steam flooded outward. In the short time she had lived at the bunker and while at college she had mastered taking a complete shower in under five minutes. She had gotten dressed, but her hair was still wrapped up in a towel and her toothbrush was hanging out the side of her mouth. "You're not going to enjoy the process of it though." she told her dad.

Dean gave her a calculating look, "What am I going to have to do?"

"Put on your fed suit." She answered innocently, as if she didn't know how much he loathed wearing the damn thing. "Local police won't ask too many questions if the feds walk in, saying that they need Kellen's name removed from any notice alerts. Ooo! Better idea." Ana pulled her toothbrush out of her mouth so she wasn't talking around it. "Marshals. Say that he's going into witness protection and you need the name removed for it to work."

They shared another look before Dean nodded, "That's actually not a half bad idea. What'dya think, Sammy?"

"If we play it right, it should work fine. Now, what are we going to tell your family?" Sam aimed the question at Kellen, figuring that he would have the best idea of what would work on them.

"We-" Kellen began, but was interrupted by Ana.

"We tell them as much of the truth as we can." She gave him a pointed look. "You're father will see right through almost any lie you can come up with, he knows you too well. Go with something vague, you got into a little bit of trouble, nothing too serious and we were able to help get you out of it. If they ask for details, just tell them it's something you don't want to talk about, but you promise it won't happen again."

Kellen sighed, "This is why I stopped sneaking you out with me your freshman year. We'd get caught and you'd pretty much fess up to everything."

She laughed, "No, if I had fessed up to _everything_ your parents wouldn't have let us around each other ever again. Especially after that night at the hill climbs, we'd both be dead if they knew everything that happened that night."

Connor, Dean, and Sam all shared a questioning look. None of them had heard much talk of Ana doing anything crazy like she and Kellen were suggesting. "Do you think that will work? Will they try to pry too much?" Sam questioned, turning their collective focus back to the task at hand.

Kellen nodded, "I'm the only son and the oldest. Dad's made it pretty clear that unless it's something really bad, they don't need to pry into my life anymore."

Ana walked back into the bathroom, finished brushing her teeth and untangled her hair from the towel. Moving back into the main room, she brought her duffle with her and tossed it on the bed so she could dig for a pair of socks. "So, we have a plan. Sam and dad, you guys go deal with the local police and the three of us will head over to Kellen's parents house. We can meet there when you're done?"

"How are you going to get there without your car?" Dean questioned as he stood up from the table. He knew that they could teleport Kellen without a problem, but appearing randomly around the town would be a pretty bad idea.

Ana looked at Connor, raising her eyebrow in silent question, knowing that he would be able to figure out what she was thinking. "If we can find a secluded enough area, we can move it from the bunker to here. All we'd have to do is teleport to it and then teleport back with it." Connor assured him.

"Is that old barn out on seventy-eighth and King still abandoned?" Ana questioned Kellen as she sat down to put on her boots. "No one is ever out that far and if it's still standing, it'd be a good place."

He nodded as he stood away from the counter, "Yeah, I think it's still up. We still have the occasional party out at the Miller place, but it's been awhile." With a shrug, he walked over to the bed he'd been sleeping in earlier and grabbed his jacket off of it. "So you guys are going make the car appear out of thin air or something?"

"Pretty much. You wanna go for a ride?" Ana asked, wiggling her eyebrows at him in a very Gabriel-like manner. She stood up and pulled on her coat, walking around to the head of the bed to grab her pistol from underneath her pillow and slipping it into the waste of her jeans.

"You have got to stop spending so much time with Gabe." Dean muttered with a shake of his head as he turned toward the door. "We'll give you a call when we're done with the locals." he added, walking out the door without looking to see if Sam was following him.

Sam moved toward Ana, giving her a comforting pat on the shoulder, "We'll meet up with you guys as soon as we're done. Please don't get caught teleporting the whole car." he added before following after Dean.

"Alright. Off to the bunker we go." Ana stood next to Connor, "You're going to want to steal your stomach for this one, Kellen. The landing can cause a nauseous feeling the first time." She warned with a warm smile, but before he had much time to consider what she said, Ana reached out her hand and grabbed Kellen's arm. Sending a quick wink to Connor, she pulled on her power and teleported them all out of the motel room.

 **A/N(2): I know this chapter is a little slow and filler-y, but I'm hoping to get the next couple of chapters out pretty fast after this one (maybe in the next two or three days) so look forward to that :) Thanks for reading.**


	39. Chapter 39

The process of teleporting was fast. One moment the person teleporting is standing in a cheap motel room, the next they're standing in a garage full of classic cars watching one of their closest friends from childhood dry heave into an old, metal trash can. Ana shook her head as she watched Kellen, "It wasn't that bad, stop being such a baby. At least you haven't eaten anything yet this morning, doing that on a full stomach when you're not used to it is so much worse."

He raised his head up enough to glare at her before his body trembled and he lowered his head back down. Connor stood at Ana's side, feeling bad for Kellen as he dealt with the first form of magic his body had come in contact with. "You know, you could make him feel better." he told Ana in a soft tone, wondering why she hadn't done so yet.

"Oh, I know, but I figured a couple of minutes of feeling sick wouldn't kill him. Not after how many nights he's gotten me so drunk that I feel like death the next day." She explained with a small smile before stepping away from him and toward Kellen. "But I'm not entirely cruel, I always planned on making it stop." Standing just behind her friend, she placed a hand on his back and closed her eyes. As she advanced with her healing magic, she could do a lot without an actual spell or ritual if the person's life wasn't in danger. A small transfer of energy within his body would make Kellen feel normal again and they could get on with their morning.

It took all of a couple of minutes before he was standing up and looking down at her, "Thanks." His voice was a little hoarse, but he felt fine other than a little freaked out. It's one thing when someone says they're a witch, it's another thing completely when they teleport God knows how far away from home, with him in tow, and then take away the nausea racking his system.

Ana gave him a soft smile, "You ready for round two?" she turned and walked over to her car, which was parked just a short distance away. "This time won't affect you as bad since we're technically moving the car and we're just along for the ride."

"Also, since you've been exposed to magic a couple of times, it should slowly become easier to handle." Connor explained, waiting for Kellen to follow Ana before he began to walk next to him. Though he didn't have many friends other than Ana's family and his coven mates, he felt that he and Kellen were beginning to form a friendship. "First few times with a completely human body is always a little unsettling for the person."

Kellen shook his head, all of this was still a little hard for him to process. He had actual proof that witches and angels existed, plus from what Dean and Sam had been talking about all sorts of other monsters were real too… It was a lot to wrap his head around. "Why didn't it affect me like that the first time, back when you first found me? And where the hell are we?" He questioned, being able to take in the garage they were in now that his head wasn't buried in a trashcan.

"Kansas." Ana answered, opening the driver side door of her car. "This is where we live… kind of. I technically still live on a college campus and Connor has an apartment in New Orleans, but my dad and uncle live here. Now that I think about it," she turned her attention to Connor, "I should probably get a hold of the admissions office and let them know I'm not coming back. Get the rest of my stuff out of my dorm too."

Connor nodded, "Probably a good idea sweetheart, but honestly it can wait a while if it needs to. We kind of have a lot on our plates right now. Jade's going to have a new plan eventually."

"Don't remind me." Ana sighed as she got in her car, waiting for the other two to get in as well. Turning to look at Connor once he was seated she pulled the keys out of her pocket and then shifted through them until she had the right one. "Let's make a deal. No more talk of Jade or Michael or Lucifer until we're done with our mini vacation. We can worry about all of that when we have an idea of what the next plan is, but until then I would really like to handle this stuff with Kellen's disappearance and then enjoy some time in my hometown."

"Deal." Connor agreed, waiting a moment as he watched her put the key in the ignition. "Hey, Red? You know that we're not driving out of here, right?"

She paused, seeming to realize what she had been doing, "Well, good thing it doesn't matter if we teleport it while it's running." Ana shrugged and started the engine, choosing to ignore the soft snicker Connor was attempting to hide in the seat next to her. Glancing in the rearview mirror, she noticed that Kellen seemed to be a little shocked, "You okay?" she questioned, turning to look at him.

"Michael and Lucifer? Like the angels? Lucifer as in Satan?" He questioned, face paling as he spoke.

"Uh… yeah." She glanced quickly at Connor before looking back to Kellen, "We kind of left a few things out last night. I didn't want to tell you too much at once and have you completely freak out."

Kellen looked over at her, his expression slowly changing from shock to determination. "You have until we get to my parent's house to tell me everything."

Ana sighed, she knew the look on his face well and she wouldn't get out of telling him exactly what had been going on. Offering her hand to Connor, they held on tightly and used the contact to connect their powers. She was the one to initiate the teleportation, since she knew exactly where she wanted them to appear at and he only had a near location. It was just as quick this time and thankfully the barn was still just as empty as she had assumed it would be. "Alright, so you're getting the short version of everything." she informed him before waving a hand to open the large barn door so they could leave.

"Trust me, the long version would take a trip across the country." Connor commented before Kellen could even think to argue.

"Fine." Kellen sat back in his seat, "So give me the short version."

Pulling the car out of the barn, down a short dirt road and toward the almost empty main road she tried to think of how to wrap everything that had happened into a 'short version'. As she turned onto the street she began to speak, "So I started having visions just after my eighteenth birthday about my dad and uncle, though I didn't know they had any relation to me at the time. So we meet, they leave, I go to Kansas to meet with another psychic and have a vision of Dean in trouble. Que first demon attack in a line of many. Spent a few days with them at the bunker, that's where we just were by the way, anyway we came to find out three things… I'm wanted for some old school ritual that requires me to be bled dry, I'm a witch, and I'm Dean's daughter. We do a bunch of research, go up against more demons, decide I need to learn to control my powers, que meeting Connor." she paused to take a breath, glancing back at Kellen to make sure he was still following.

"Keep going." He told her, making sure to process what he was being told slowly.

She nodded, "So Connor and I work on my magic, I go up against more demons, and we think that's the end of it, but it's not. Turns out there was a Knight of Hell leading the whole thing, so we have to go up against him, Sam almost died doing that-"

"Don't forget about John." Connor interjected.

"Right! So before the Knight of Hell, we met up with my dad and uncle's friend Charlie who was on a weird hunt. Turns out she's up against a bunch of demons and a weird ghost. Well this is when we found out that I had Gabriel's grace. We go to take care of the demons, come across the ghost who happens to be my dead grandfather, but he was sent down from Heaven to help with the Knight of Hell situation. So we take out Valac, then things were pretty normal for a while. I started school, then decided to go hunting on my own, then we caught word from our friend Garth of some weird stuff going down with a devil's gate in Wyoming. Turns out a demon named Jade was trying to release Lucifer from his cage. So we go to deal with that and Brandon shows up, he was a demon by the way, I killed him… Anyway, we deal with the gate issue, but I ended up getting really hurt and had to be taken to the hospital because my magic was keeping both the angels and Connor from healing me. I was in a coma for three days and then when I woke up, Gwen called and we came to help look for you." She let out a huff. Toward the end she had begun to talk faster and not breathing as much. Taking a couple of deep breaths, she looked to Connor, "Did I cover all of the important stuff?"

He gave a short laugh, "I think so." he nodded, thinking over what all she had said, "You know, you should be one of those people that writes Spark Notes."

Ana laughed, "I think I've got enough going on in life." she glanced back at Kellen, being able to see that he was trying to process everything she had just said. "If it makes you feel any better, my dad and uncle have stopped the apocalypse already, so it's not like we're going into this blind."

"The apocalypse?" He questioned with wide eyes. What kind of family was she born into? Who deals with monsters, demons, and the freaking apocalypse?

Connor nodded, "Yep. Sam is actually Lucifer's vessel, to stop him the first time Sam had to throw himself into Hell." he had heard the story a handful of times by now.

"Okay. Let's… uh deal with my family and stuff, then we can come back to Satan and the apocalypse that apparently almost happened." Kellen rubbed his hands over his face and then shook his body as if to rid himself of the uncomfortable feeling that all of this new information was causing him.

"Good plan, because we're here." Ana told them as she parked on the street outside of the house. "You ready to do this?" She asked as she cut off the engine and turned to look at Kellen in the backseat.

He gave her a small nod, "Yeah. Let's go." Opening his door he stepped out and walked toward the house, not waiting for either of them to follow him. He walked up the stairs and didn't bother knocking, just opened the door and stepped through. "Mom! Dad! I'm home!" he called, turning over his shoulder to see that Connor and Ana were right behind him.

"I'm sure that's the best way to start this whole thing." She told him sarcastically, watching as everyone came running toward the front door from different parts of the house.

Callie was the first to him as she came barreling down the stairs and basically threw herself at her brother. Her arms were wrapped tight around his neck and her legs were wrapped around his waist, something she had done to him since she was a toddler. She buried her face against his shoulder began to cry in relief, her body wracked with sobs which caused Kellen to hold her tighter. "It's okay, Callie, I'm here." he assured her as he moved further into the house so that Ana and Connor could come in. Both of his parents rounded the corner seconds later with Gwen on their heels and the moment Monica's eyes landed on her son she began to cry as well. Soon the whole family was surrounding Kellen in one large hug while Ana and Connor kept themselves back and just watched the entire thing.

-A-

By the time Sam and Dean were done with the local police and had made their way to the Feragen residence the family, along with Connor and Ana, were sitting in the living room and the tension in the room was thick. Ana had let them into the house and was leading them to the almost full room as Monica spoke up, "I just don't understand why you won't tell us exactly what happened."

"Mom, just drop it. We've been over this." Kellen pleaded with her, tired of repeating the fact that he didn't want to talk about what had happened.

Ana cleared her throat, pulling everyone's attention to herself, Sam, and Dean. "Everyone this is my dad, Dean, and my uncle, Sam." she introduced, watching as Hank rose from the couch where he had been seated next to his wife and walked over to them.

Though he wasn't more than four or five years older than Dean, Hank eyed him as if the man in front of him was much younger than himself. He extended his hand once he was close enough, "Hank Feragen, pleasure to meet you." he introduced himself, eyes carefully watching the man that was Ana's father.

"Dean Winchester." Ana's father spoke as he clasped the other man's hand in his own and gave it a firm shake.

Looking back and forth between the man that had been the closest thing she had to a father for the first eighteen years of her life and her actual dad, Ana didn't think either of them was going to back down from the alpha male showdown that seemed to have started without much cause or a warning. Thankfully Monica walked over and began to defuse the situation. "Welcome to our home." She smiled at Sam and Dean while putting a hand on her husband's shoulder, "My name is Monica, it seems you've already met Kellen…" she trailed off, still trying to figure out how these men and Ana had found her son. "and these are our daughters Gwen and Callie."

Gwen stood up from the couch, pulling Callie with her and Ana caught the look on her best friend's face. "Why don't you let us get some coffee for everyone, then we can sit down and explain some things?" Ana offered, trying to herd Gwen away from Dean and Sam before she said what Ana knew she was thinking.

"That sounds like a great idea." Monica offered with a smile, "Come have a seat, we're so curious about how you and Ana came to find each other." She directed the men to the seats that Gwen and Callie had emptied.

Ana grabbed onto Gwen's arm and pulled her toward the kitchen, knowing that Callie would follow. "Your dad is so-" Gwen began, but Ana spun around and used her hand to cover her friend's mouth.

"Don't you dare say the word that is about to come out of your mouth." Ana warned, "If you ever, _ever_ finish that sentence while I am in the room I will start telling people every embarrassing thing about you I can think of."

Gwen's eyes widened slightly and then she nodded quickly, thankful when Ana dropped her hand. "Hot. Your dad is hot." She spoke with a wide grin before moving past Ana and into the kitchen, just nearly dodging a playful slap from her friend.

"Ugh, why?" Ana groaned, glaring at Callie as she laughed at them, before following after Gwen. "Seriously, can you refrain from mentioning that you think my father is attractive for the rest of my visit?"

Callie jumped up on the counter, she had calmed down since her breakdown when she first saw her brother, now she was beginning to act more and more like herself. She looked at Ana, "How long are you going to be staying?" she questioned. It had been so long since either of them had spent much time with Ana that they would all be glad if she stayed for a while.

"Connor and I are going to stay for as long as we can. There's a bunch of stuff going on with my family right now, but until they need us to come back, we'll be here." Ana answered with a wide smile at how her answer seemed to make Callie happier.

"Speaking of Connor." Gwen spoke up as she started the coffee pot, "That accent can _do_ _things_ to a girl. So, the two of you are dating, right?" she questioned, turning to lean against the counter the coffee maker was on.

Ana turned and headed toward the cupboard that held their coffee mugs, taking a moment to chose her words carefully. "Yep." she finally settled on, knowing that Gwen wouldn't just leave it at that.

"How long have you been together?" Callie asked, her legs swinging off the side of the counter. "He seems very attentive to what you're doing, it's clear that he cares a lot for you." she added, having noticed it when they had been in the living room.

Ana smiled softly, keeping her back to them as she got enough mugs out for everyone. "It's been about a year. We broke up for a short stint while I was away at college and he was working, but some stuff happened and it's brought us back together."

"You're not pregnant, are you?" Gwen asked suddenly, that being the first thing her mind landed on when she mentioned 'stuff' that brought them back together.

"What?" Ana asked, shocked, "No! I'm not pregnant." she shook her head, turning around to look at her friends. "Even if I was, that's not something I would let keep me in a relationship I didn't want to be in and you should know me better than that."

Gwen shrugged, "Well then what _stuff_ brought you back together?" she pried, it wasn't like Ana to not tell her every detail of everything. Though they had been separated for some time, it was a silent understanding that things never changed between the two within their friendship.

 _Almost dying. Being soulmates. Evil in the world trying to put an end to life as we know it._ Ana knew she couldn't tell either of the girls that, she wouldn't drag them into the world she now lived in and if she had her way they both would stay completely unaware of it. Just like Kellen would have if Ana could have had it the way she wanted it. "There's been some family stuff going on and in the time we were together, Connor basically became family, so he's involved in everything. We knew when we ended things that neither of us really wanted to, it just would have been too hard to continue with our relationship with the direction our lives were taking us."

"Does he make you happy?" Callie asked in the same innocent way that she asked everything. Since the moment she was able to talk it seemed that the girl was goodness personified. She never caused trouble, did amazing in school, and never tried any of the normal teenager stuff that got both of her siblings in trouble.

Ana smiled up at her, she had missed Callie, "He does, really happy."

Callie returned her smile and seemed content with her answer, not needing to hear anything else about the relationship. "I like him. He seems really nice and his accent is super cool." she commented, jumping off of the counter to start helping with all of the coffee.

"Cool?" Gwen questioned, turning to grab the now full coffee pot, "His accent is _sexy_ and those muscles, you can basically see them through his shirt. If I didn't love you so much I would try to steal him from you." she teased, not knowing that Connor was headed their way though Ana could sense him.

"I'm kind of attached to Ana." He spoke as he entered the room, having heard Gwen just before he had turned the corner. He shot Ana a grin and walked over to her, wrapping an arm around her waist, "I came to see if you guys needed help carrying everything."

Ana raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure it wasn't to escape the room? I have no doubt that there's some not so subtle measuring going on in there."

"Measuring?" Callie questioned, genuinely confused about what anyone felt like they needed to measure.

Gwen laughed softly, her little sister's naivety was never boring, "Their man parts, baby sister. Ana is suggesting that dad and Dean are trying to prove who is more of a man."

"It's actually settled down quite a bit. Monica quickly pointed out that neither of them needed to prove anything and that you clearly love both of them." Connor told Ana, "Though I do think you're going to need to have a talk with your dad when this is all over, we all know he doesn't like to be reminded of the time he's missed in your life."

Ana sighed, "I honestly didn't think it would be so weird. Yes, Hank has been like a father to me for years, but no one could replace dad and he should know that by now." Shaking her head, she thought she would have to talk with Sam about it before she talked with her dad.

"Alright. It's all ready." Gwen announced as she filled the last mug, "Everyone grab a couple of mugs and head back toward the living room." She directed them with ease, having always been the bossy one out of the group. After making sure that everyone was each carrying a mug or two, she led them back out to the living room and into what appeared to be a much more relaxed conversation that had everyone laughing softly.

As the began to hand out the coffee, Hank pulled himself together enough to continue on with the story he had been telling. "It sounds bad, but her hair had the strangest shade of green in it for so long."

Ana's eyes went wide as she realized what they were talking about, "I leave the room for ten minutes and you're already retelling my worst childhood memories." she glared at Hank. There weren't enough seats for everyone, with Hank and Monica on the loveseat, Sam and Dean each in a chair, and Kellen sitting on the longer couch with only two free spots left. Gwen moved to take a seat by her brother and Callie perched on the arm of the couch, leaving one seat. Ana sent Connor a silent message to take it and once he did, she walked over to sit by his feet, using his legs to lean against.

"We joked about her celebrating Christmas early for weeks." Gwen added with a small chuckle, remembering it clearly. "That was just the beginning of a very long streak of terrible pranks between these two though." she gestured between Ana and Kellen.

Leaning her head back on Connor's knees, Ana shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I feel like I missed an important part to this story." He told her, raising an eyebrow with curiosity.

She sighed, "When we were younger, I think I was seven at the time, Kellen thought it would be hilarious to put blue temporary dye in my hair while I was staying here one night. Turns out that if temporary dye is left in all night, it tends to not want to wash out. After the first couple of times of washing it, the blue turned to a terrible shade of green." As she explained the story, she turned her head to the side so she could see Kellen and glare at him.

"That's nothing compared to the night before homecoming day my senior year when you covered my face in makeup then turned off my alarm so I didn't have time to notice while I was running out the door to get to class on time. I didn't know anything was wrong until I slid into homeroom and everyone started laughing at me." Kellen pointed out.

Everyone laughed at that, Sam and Dean glancing at each other as the stories reminded them of their prank wars together. "In Ana's defense, you looked great. That blue eyeshadow really made your eyes pop." Callie teased.

Gwen nodded in agreement, "I think that's the day we realized how much being a competition dancer had done for your skills with makeup. You used to have no clue about any of it, then you go through two seasons of competing and you're a master at it."

"Well yeah, have you seen the amount of makeup that goes onto those dancers." Ana shook her head, "I think my pores are still clogged from doing it for so many years."

"Oh!" Monica jumped slightly as she remembered something, "Speaking of your dancing. Angelica has been asking about you. If you're going to be in town for a while you should stop by the studio and say hi."

Ana nodded, "I should have time while I'm here." she told her, thinking about all the things she wanted to do while her and Connor had the time.

The conversation moved away from childhood pranking to how life had been for Ana while with her family and how everyone in the Feragen family had been doing. Dean and Hank seemed to be actually getting along after Monica had shared her words of wisdom with both men and that made her smile. They had been sitting around for a while just talking when Ana turned to glance at the clock. "I should probably make my way over to Heather's." she stated as she stood up from the floor.

"Do you know how long you'll be staying in town?" Monica asked as everyone began to stand up so they could say goodbye.

Ana and Connor shared a glance before she turned back to Monica, "We're not sure exactly, but another couple of days at least."

"You should come over for dinner later, invite Heather. We can order pizza and spend some time together." Hank said, moving to give Ana a quick hug before turning to look at Dean and Sam, "You're both welcome too, of course. It's been nice getting to know you and any family of Ana's is extended family of ours."

Both brother's gave Hank gentle smiles, "Sounds great. Suppose we should go see Heather too, though I'm not sure our visit there will go as smoothly." Dean spoke, muttering the last part slightly.

Ana shook her head, "We'll be back later then. Thanks for the visit." she told everyone with a smile, trying to subtly move everyone leaving out of the door.

Monica smiled and wrapped Ana in a tight hug. "I don't know how you did it, but thank you so much for bringing him home to us." she whispered in the younger woman's ear before placing a loving kiss on her cheek. When she let Ana go there were tears in her eyes.

"I love you all. We'll bring the beer later." Ana spoke with a smile, trying to not let her eyes water as well. "Now let's go before Heather finds out I've been here all morning and haven't stopped to see her yet." She added, leading the small group coming with her toward the door.

They had just stepped off of the stairs outside when Gwen and Kellen opened the door again, "Hey, are you two free tonight after our dinner plans?" Gwen called to Ana and Connor, causing them both to stop and turn to look at the siblings standing in the doorway.

They shared a quick look before Ana nodded, "I think so. What are you two thinking?" she knew the look in both of their eyes and it meant either really good or bad things were in store.

"Finals were last week so everyone's back from out of town. There's a party Seth Wilson's place tonight. I hadn't planned on going because of everything that had been going on with Kellen, but now that he's back home and in one piece we were thinking it'd be a good way for us to celebrate." Gwen explained with a sly smile.

Ana looked up at Connor, "What do you think? It'll be full of people I went to highschool with, most of which are fresh legal drinkers and it'll most likely be a little crazy."

"Red, I've worked in a bar for years in the largest city in Louisiana, I think I can handle a house party in Montana." He teased her with a small smile before turning to look at Gwen and Connor. "Count us in. We can figure everything out when we come back tonight."

"Sounds good." Kellen nodded, "Tell Heather we say hi." he added to Ana before pulling Gwen back into the house and shutting the door.

The witches turned to continue walking to Ana's car when Dean's voice made them both look toward the Impala which was parked slightly behind her car, "Did I hear that right? Are you going to a party tonight?"

Ana raised an eyebrow, "Are you really one to start lecturing me about underage drinking?" She assumed that he was going to respond negatively.

Dean shared a quick glance with his brother before he shook his head, "I wasn't going to lecture you. In fact, I think it's a good idea that you take a little time for yourself. With the way things have been going lately we have to take our time when we can."

Slightly shifting the direction she was walking, Ana turned herself so that she was headed toward her father's car. When she reached him, she forced her arms underneath his and pulled herself against him in a hug. "I love you." she told him softly before letting him go, aware that he wasn't a huge fan of having 'chick flick moments' where everyone could see. "And while we're on the subject of taking some time for ourselves, Connor and I are going to stay here for a few days. I think it'd be a good idea to spend some time with Heather and everyone in there." she gestured to the house. "The moment Gabe and Cas have information on Jade, we'll come back, but until then I'd like to stay here."

Looking down at his daughter, Dean sighed, he didn't want her staying here without him, but at the same time he didn't want to spend much more time in the city. Though the time he had spent there while he was younger had created the young lady looking up at him, it was still a sore spot that Stephanie went through her pregnancy and died alone because he left her, which left Ana to grow up without him. "Sounds like a good plan and as long as you check in every day, we'll have no problems. Sam and I will stay for the night and then we're going to head back to the bunker tomorrow."

Ana smiled up at him, "I think I can handle a phone call or two a day to assure you I'm alive."

"Good." Dean nodded, sucking in a deep breath as he opened his car door. "Alright, let's go deal with the she-devil." He gave a forced shiver and slid into the car. Ana shook her head and rolled her eyes, her father could be such a drama queen.

 **Boom! Another chapter :) I'm trying to get these slower ones out as fast as I can so that we can hurry on to more fun stuff. What do you guys think about Ana and Connor taking a break from the crazy to act like normal people their age? There should be some funny moments in the next chapter so be looking forward to that and I'm hoping to have that one up by Tuesday at the latest. Thanks for reading guys :)**

 **To the recent Guest review: Thank you so much! Let me know how you're enjoying it :)**


	40. Chapter 40

**A/N: So I suck at trying to do things on time, but it's only a day late so hopefully that counts as something! I just wanted to say hi to the new followers, seriously I get the biggest smile every time I get a new notification on my story! So I know things have been kind of normal and a little slow in the past couple of chapters, I promise it's all leading up to something :) Let me know what you guys think.**

 **SeverusSnape'sLove: I promise I'm updating as fast as I can :) I'm glad you're enjoying it. Thanks so much for the review.**

The time spent with Heather was a little less awkward than it had been the last time they were all there, when Ana had left to move in with Dean and Sam. Ana caught her up on the normal stuff that had been going on and Heather wasn't pleased to hear that she was dropping out of school, but was glad to hear that she and Connor were back together. About an hour went by before they decided that it was time for them to leave, more accurately because Dean was itching to get away from the heated glare Heather would throw his way anytime he spoke. Ana relayed the message about the pizza night at Monica and Hank's to her aunt and Heather promised to be there with dessert. After they left and made a stop at the motel so that the brothers could change out of their suits, everyone piled into the Impala and they were off to have lunch.

It was relieving to know that even though they still had a lot to worry about with the Jade issue that nothing was in need of their undivided attention right at that moment. So they took their chance at free time and ran with it. They decided to kill the time before dinner in the shopping area of downtown, starting off in a coffee shop to get a hot drink to fight off the December cold. Snow had finally fallen about a week before and stuck to the ground, causing it to feel a bit colder than it was. With coffee in hand Ana and Connor were getting ready to leave toward the small occult shop a couple of blocks over and Sam wanted to head over to a used bookstore they had passed before they had parked the car. Unsurprisingly, Dean was perfectly content to stay at the coffee shop and flirt with the barista behind the counter. Before splitting up they decided that they would meet back at the shop in an hour so they would have enough time to go back to the motel before meeting everyone for dinner.

Ana and Connor said a quick goodbye to Sam before heading off their own way. He reached out and took her hand in his as they crossed the street, the warmth of their hands together keeping each warm. "So I've been thinking about something." Connor began as she led him toward their destination, he had visited the store the last time they were here together but it was safer to just have her lead the way so they wouldn't get lost.

"Okay?" she asked, giving him a questioning side glance as she took a sip of her coffee. Looking at her in that moment sent his heart rate racing. The cold gray, winter day paired with her pale complexion and the brightness of her green eyes made her look stunning. "Connor?" she questioned when he just stared at her.

He gave her a soft smile, pulling her to a stop, "I've been thinking that I want you to be mine forever." he admitted once they were facing each other.

Returning his smile, she shook her head slightly, "Connor, I'm your soulmate that kind of signifies that this is a lifetime sort of deal."

"Like no one in your family has ever fought against what God or fate had in store for them." He pointed out. "The time we spent apart was empty for me and I never want to feel like that again. I don't want to be without you."

Ana gave him a slightly confused look, why was all of this coming out now? "Being apart wasn't something either of us really wanted and we both knew that when we decided on it. There's nothing else keeping us apart and as long as we can stop this whole Lucifer business I don't think anything else will." She reached up and touched his cheek with her hand, "We're meant to be together, nothing can stop that. So don't waste your time worrying about it, I'm not going anywhere." Rising onto the tips of her toes she gave him a soft kiss. Giving him a warm smile, she turned and continued on toward the store.

Connor watched her for a minute before turning to follow, knowing that her heart was his was one thing, but he wanted to world to know it too. Quickly catching up to her, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, saving his previous thought for a different time. "So do we need to stock up or are we just going to look around?"

Grinning, she huddled close to him as they walked, "We need a couple of things, I'm pretty positive that we're almost out of white sage and I want to try a spell with hemlock." She informed him as they reached the shop.

"Hemlock?" He raised an eyebrow at her, they rarely used hemlock as it was mostly used in spells involving astral projection to ground the person to their body and the world. It also held some minor protective properties, but the two of them normally used other herbs for that.

Ana nodded, "Yeah. I read in one of the family journals that witches who experience strong visions are more likely to have an easier time with astral projection. If I can learn to do it properly I think it would be a good tool to have. Never know when it could come in handy."

He studied her a moment, keeping his mouth closed as he thought about how strong she was and how she never seemed to know enough about magic. Even though she was still incredibly knew to it all, she knew more than a lot of witches and he understood that her power only grew with that knowledge.

They spent most of their hour looking through everything in the store. The book section was enough to get lost in for the time they had, but they glanced over titles before moving on to the mass amount of stones, herbs, incense, candles, and other goods that had various uses within magic and other craft. After picking out the few things they needed and a small argument about who was going to be paying for it, they had their purchases in hand and were heading out the door. Ana pulled her phone out of her pocket and glanced at the time, they were running a little late and wouldn't make it back to the coffee shop in time. She handed Connor the bag from the store and dialed her father's number quickly, "Hey, we're on our way. Got a little sidetracked."

"Yeah, I figured as much. Haven't heard from Sam and he's not back yet, why don't you swing by that bookstore and drag him out of there." Dean suggested, knowing that if his little brother had found something he deemed interesting that he was probably lost in whatever it was.

Ana nodded to herself before reaching for Connor's hand and directing him toward the bookstore her uncle had gone to. "We'll meet you back at the coffee shop in a few. I'll make sure to have Sam in tow." she joked before saying a quick goodbye.

"Sam's not back yet either?" Connor questioned, assuming from the one side of the conversation he had heard and their change in direction that they had been given the task of tracking the man down.

"Nope, which isn't all that surprising. I know for a fact that the bookstore he's in has a really awesome collection of older books. I bet he's just loving it." They had neared the end of the block and needed to turn the corner, as they rounded it Ana almost ran into a familiar, tall man.

Sam stopped himself and took a quick step back, "Hey! I was just coming to look for you. Dean said that you guys weren't back yet." he informed them, turning so that they could walk back to the coffee shop together.

"That's weird because he just asked us to come look for you." Connor's brow furrowed in confusion.

Ana and Sam shared a look before they realized what was going on, each understanding Dean's tricks a bit more than Connor did. "He wanted more time to flirt with the barista." Ana concluded as they crossed the street, "Must be having a hard time getting her number if he was going to send us on a goose chase for each other."

Sam chuckled at his niece, "You should tell him that when we get there, I'm sure he'd love it."

"I'll make sure to make the point very loud and mention the pills he takes for he takes for his 'performance issue'." She joked with a wide grin, just imagining the pissed expression that would no doubt cross her father's face if she ever uttered those words. They all shared a laugh as they reached the coffee shop and they were able to see Dean leaning against the counter and still chatting with the brunette behind the counter. "Dad!" Ana called as they walked through the door, "You're holding us up, let's go."

Dean, along with a few of the other patrons of the small shop, turned to look at her. Furrowing his brow, he shot his daughter a look before turning back to the barista and telling her something. He moved away from the counter and when he reached Ana he placed a hand on her shoulder, directed her back outside where Connor and Sam were waiting. "What the Hell, Ana?" He questioned sharply.

"What? We've got plans tonight and I don't want to be late." She answered with a shrug as if she hadn't had every intention of embarrassing him in front of the barista. "So, did the few extra minutes give you time to get her number?"

Forcing his face to remain blank, Dean turned and walked in the direction of the Impala. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Sam scoffed from behind him as they followed his lead toward the car, "Right, because telling both of us to go find the other had nothing to do with the fact that you didn't want to stop talking to the woman."

Dean stopped and turned around, arms crossing over his chest as he glanced back and forth between his brother and his daughter. "Is that really what you guys think? That I would devise some master plan to get a few extra minutes with an attractive woman?"

"Oh, he's using big words." Connor commented softly to Ana, "We all know what that means."

"Hey, I can hear you, dumbass." Dean snapped, glaring at Connor now. "And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Ana laughed, "It means that you would only ever call someone an 'attractive woman' instead of your usual vocabulary of 'hot' or 'babe' when you're lying through your teeth."

"So how long did it actually take you to get her number?" Sam questioned as he walked toward the car, followed by Ana and Connor as Dean just stood there and stared at the empty space in front of him.

Spinning quickly around, he glared at his family, "You guys are a bunch of dicks, ya know that?" Dean called after them before walking toward the car himself, pulling his keys out of his pocket. His frown deepened as they just laughed at him, "Screw you." He snapped as he unlocked the car and got into the driver's seat.

-A-

The pizza night had gone by smoothly, with Monica there to keep Heather's mood up even though Dean was among them, it was actually kind of fun. As the night began to wind down Gwen had pulled Kellen, Connor, and Ana aside so they could talk about their plans for the night. "Seth said the party was going to start about nine, which means it's been going for about a half hour and people are probably just now showing up. I figure we get ready and then we can head out?"

"Sounds like a good plan. I'm assuming you're going to change?" Ana offered, knowing that though her best friend looked fine in the worn out jeans and plain tee shirt she had on that Gwen wouldn't be walking into a party like that.

Gwen nodded, "And you're crazy if I think I'm letting you go dressed like that." She gestured to Ana's outfit.

Raising an eyebrow at her friend, Ana shook her head, "I'm not going to be forced into some crazy ensemble. I'm perfectly fine going to the party like this." The clothes she had put on that morning were what she normally wore; form fitting jeans, a plain grey thermal and her boots.

"You're at least changing your shirt. That color washes you out." Gwen pointed out, reaching out for her friend's wrist before turning to look at Connor and Kellen. "Give us twenty minutes and we'll be ready to go." she assured them both before dragging Ana up the stairs and to her bedroom.

-A-

Twenty minutes quickly turned to forty-five and Ana groaned again as she looked at herself in the full length mirror in Gwen's room. "You said that I had to change my shirt, not that I had to let you do my hair and my makeup." she complained again.

Gwen rolled her eyes and she pulled on the tight purple sweater she had decided on, "You look great. I know you already have a boyfriend, but sometimes it's nice to dress up a little for them. Keeps things interesting." she winked at her friend before laughing softly.

"I can assure you that things are far from uninteresting in our lives." Ana muttered, studying herself harder in the mirror as if prolonged exposure to how she looked would make it all go away. It wasn't that she looked bad, Gwen had always had a way of making Ana look good no matter what crazy outfit she put her friend in, it just wasn't something she would normally wear. The ivory shirt was mostly lace, the bodice having a thin layer of cotton attached underneath to cover her torso, but the skin of her chest, shoulders, and arms was visible through it and that made it easy to see the anti possession tattoo on her left shoulder blade and the beginning of the arm sleeve she had just started working on visible. Gwen had taken a curling iron to her red hair and made the normally straight strands softly curl toward the end. Thankfully her friend hadn't put much makeup on her. Though Gwen was good at many things, doing another girl's makeup had never been one of them. There was a thin black line around her eyes, her eyelashes looked a little longer and thicker, Gwen had also added a little blush to her cheeks and some peach lipgloss.

"You look great." Gwen assured her as she gave herself a once over in the mirror. Where Ana was pale, Gwen was tan. Her black hair fell just to her shoulder in sleek straightness and her hazel eyes looked almost golden because of the color of her shirt. The black skinny jeans she wore hugged her legs and the knee high black boots she wore made her look just a little taller than she already was. "Now, let's go. I can already hear Kellen complaining about how we're taking too long." Leaving Gwen's room the girls headed down the stairs quickly, reaching the bottom and turning to look at their mixture of family in the room. "We're ready, let's go." Gwen aimed the comment at her brother, who would be driving the four of them to the party in his truck.

Connor stood up from his seat and walked over to Ana, wrapping her in a hug. "You look beautiful." he told her before kissing her forehead. Kellen grabbed his jacket and keys, they said a quick goodbye to everyone in the room, and then the four headed for the door.

They were just about to get in the truck when Ana felt her dad coming out of the house and toward the driveway. Turning around, she looked at him and waited for him to speak, knowing he was about to give her some sort of speech. "I'm not going to give you 'the don't drink' speech, alright? All I'm going to say is to stay safe. We could still be attacked at any moment and I want you to keep an eye out, but still make sure to have a good time. You've been through alot lately and deserve to have some fun."

Ana smiled and moved to hug him, "Thanks dad."

"Yeah, yeah…" He gave her a quick hug, "Make sure to give me a call if something goes wrong or if you all get smashed and need a ride, alright? Don't let anyone drive drunk."

"Look at you, being a parent." She pretended to sniffle and fight back tears, "I'm so proud."

Dean rolled his eyes are her, "Oh shut it and get out of here." he told her, moving to glance through the open door of Kellen's truck so he could make eye contact with Connor. "You keep an eye out, alright?"

"Sure thing, boss." Connor gave him a short nod. He had already decided that he was going to stay relatively sober, if something happened he wanted to make sure that he could protect Ana. He watched as Ana said goodbye to her dad and then climbed into the backseat to sit next to him. Kellen pulled the truck out of the driveway and then they were on their way.

Seth's house was just outside of town, which made it a great place to throw parties. It was less likely to get the cops called for a noise complaint outside of city limits and these kind of parties tended to get loud. Kellen parked among the other vehicles lined down the short gravel road that ran along the side of the property and killed the engine. They all got out and walked toward the house without saying much, each content in the comfortable silence between them and preparing for the noise inside. The music playing inside the house grew louder as the walked closer and they didn't even bother with knocking since it wouldn't have been heard over the bass. When they walked in the party was already in full swing and there were people everywhere, people that Ana knew all of the names of even if she hadn't been friends with any of them. That was one of the side effects of dating Luke during high school, she had become semi popular and met just about everyone in their class along with a few from the class above them.

Gwen was looking around, taking in everyone there when she caught sight of someone and her eyes went wide. Turning to see if Ana had seen him yet, she noticed that her friend was saying something to Connor and knew that she hadn't seen him yet. Reaching out Gwen took Ana's hand and pulled her closer, "Luke's here." she said into her ear, loud enough for Ana to hear over the music but not loud enough for anyone else to hear.

Ana shrugged, "I really don't care. Let's go get a drink." she responded with a smile, grabbing on to Connor's hand and leading him toward the kitchen where there would no doubt be mass amounts of assorted alcohol.

Gwen and Kellen shared a glance then followed after the couple, watching as they walked past Luke without as much as a side glance in his direction. The slightly scared expression on Luke's face as Connor passed him didn't go missed by either sibling. They didn't have much chance to question it further before the music was lowered and a yell filled the room, "Ana Walker!"

Ana turned to follow the voice and found the source standing in the entrance to the kitchen. She smiled as her eyes landed on Seth, they hadn't really ever been close friends, but they had gone to school together since they were in kindergarten and they had always had a weird relationship. "Seth, how've you been?" she asked, pulling Connor with her as she walked over to him.

"Oh, you know. Same ol', same ol'." He grinned, obviously a little tipsy, and gave her a one armed hug. "I heard down the grapevine that you moved out of state."

She nodded, "Yeah, I moved to Kansas a while ago and have been going to school in Wyoming for the past few months."

"That's great to hear." Seth turned to look at Connor and extended his hand, "Seth Wilson." he introduced himself and Ana noticed that a lot of people in the room were paying attention to their conversation, but of course they were. All of the people in the room but Connor had gone to school together for years and since she just happened to be by his side all focus was on them.

"Connor Mohr, nice to meet you." He returned, shaking the other man's hand. The amount of attention on them didn't go unnoticed by him either, but he wasn't worried about it. At least they were just curious humans and not something trying to kill him or Ana.

Seth smiled, "You too. Welcome to my house." he added, "There's all sorts of drinks and snacks in the kitchen, beer pong downstairs, people are just kind of hanging out up here, and I think there are some people hanging out in the garage. Make yourselves at home, please don't throw up on the carpet." With those words said he pulled his phone out of his pocket, which must have been hooked up to the stereo because as he did something on it the volume turned back up.

Shaking her head, Ana led Connor into the kitchen to grab a drink. "I should have warned you that something like that would have happened. Seth's got this thing about knowing everyone who walks through his door, which makes sense, but also is a hassle when he's been drinking."

"It's okay." Connor assured her, standing behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. "He seemed nice enough."

She leaned back against him and nodded slightly, "Seth has always been the kind of guy that everyone can get along with." Her eyes were focused on the counter across from them that was full of assorted liquors and mixers, trying to decide what she wanted to drink. The thing was Ana had never been much of a drinker, other than a couple of times in high school when she snuck out with Kellen and the night when she got drunk in the bunker, she didn't have much experience in the matter.

"You two are sickenly cute, you know that?" Gwen spoke up as she and her brother walked into the kitchen, noticing Ana's concentrated expression on the alcohol Gwen shook her head. "How about I make us something? You look pretty lost."

Kellen laughed softly as he made his way toward the fridge, "Want a beer, Connor?" he questioned, assuming that he wouldn't want whatever girly concoction his sister was about to make.

"Sure." Connor answered Kellen before letting go of Ana and moving toward the counter, "Why don't I make you two something? I may know a thing or two about mixing drinks." he gave Ana a small smile over his shoulder before he turned back toward the counter.

Gwen moved out of the way but gave Ana a questioning look. "He's worked for years in a bar." She explained, before looking at Connor, "Think you can make one of those blue drinks Will always makes me?"

Connor scanned the counter, "I could make something similar. Just trust me, alright?" he turned and winked at Ana before accepting the bottle of beer Kellen brought over to him. Grabbing two plastic cups off of the stacks of them in the corner, he grabbed some ice out of the freezer and began to add things into them. When he was done, he spun around and offered both women a cup.

With drinks in hand, Gwen began to lead them around, she wanted to see what all was going on and who all was there. It took a while and by the time they had seen everything, their drinks were empty. A quick stop through the kitchen had their cups refilled and a new bottle in Kellen's hand, Connor had declined more to drink because though he wanted to have a good time, he also knew that things could go wrong for them at any point. Leaving the kitchen, they made their way out to the garage, the music wasn't nearly as loud there and it had less people so they could sit and talk.

"So, what's up with the way Luke was looking at you?" Gwen asked Connor as they settled into a corner of the room, deciding to stick together and away from the other groups.

Connor and Ana shared a look for a long moment before he looked up at Gwen, "The first time we met didn't go smoothly." he explained, knowing that he couldn't very well get into the details of the situation since it involved a lot of the information that Ana wanted to keep her friend innocent to.

"Let's just say that Connor may or may not have threatened Luke." Ana added, knowing that Gwen wouldn't stop at Connor's explanation, she was the master of prying for more information when she wanted it. "Just your normal new boyfriend, entitled exboyfriend drama."

Gwen nodded, taking a sip of her drink as she thought on it, "Makes sense. Luke was always an ass, wouldn't surprise me that he'd try something since you've found someone knew." She smiled, "I like this one better anyway."

Ana laughed, "Yeah, I kind of like him too." she looked up at Connor and laughed at the almost hurt expression on his face. Standing on her tiptoes, she kissed his cheek, "Okay, so maybe I like you a lot." she shrugged innocently.

"That's what a thought." He teased, wrapping an arm around her. "So Gwen-"

"Well, look what the cat dragged in." A voice interrupted Connor from behind them and Ana sighed, knowing exactly who it was without having to turn around.

Kellen's glare settled on Luke over Ana's shoulder, "Why don't you leave her alone, Luke? She obviously doesn't want anything to do with you."

Ana gave Kellen a thankful look before turning around to face Luke. He had a bottle in his hand and a look on his face that she was all too familiar with. "You're drunk." she observed, knowing that when he got this way he was either full of laughs and joking around or he was angry. It seemed that this time around was the latter.

"Give the lady a prize." Luke slurred out, voice laced with as much sarcasm as he could muster in his current condition. "Honestly never thought I'd have to see either of you again, figured you'd be wholed up in whatever backwater town in the south with your screw up of a father."

Connor moved to take a step toward Luke, but Ana stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Luke, you're drunk. Why don't you go ask one of the other guys for a ride back to your place." she offered, really not wanting to deal with this right now. Of course she couldn't have just one night completely drama free, it was either monsters, family issues, or apparently her one exboyfriend.

"I'll give him a ride." One of the guys who had been hanging out in the garage when they had walked in offered. Ana glanced around Luke as Wesley walked over to them. Wes had been one of the few friends of Luke's that she had gotten along with when they were dating. "Figure his drunken ass shouldn't ruin your night."

Luke turned and smiled at his friend, "Wes, hey man! Have you met the bitch's new man? Did you know he threatened me once?"

Ana rolled her eyes, "This is just great." she muttered, turning to hand her drink to Gwen as she stepped forward so that she was toe to toe with Luke. "You have two options right now. You can either let Wes take you home or you can continue to talk shit and I will personally kick your ass."

Her words made Luke laugh, he reached a hand out and placed it on her shoulder. "Oh, honey, you really don't scare me."

She glared at him for a moment before she wrapped her hand around his wrist and spun it around so that it was twisted, forcing Luke to bend at the waist to compensate for the odd angle. "You lost the right to call me that a long time ago. Now you need to leave."

"But the funs just getting started." Luke whined, turning his head to the side to look at Ana. A grin that was unlike one she had ever seen on his face slid across his lips, "And there's still so much fun to be had." he added, eyes flashing black.

Ana's eyes went wide with shock and she acted quickly, her instincts causing her to act in a way that would protect everyone else that was there. She wrapped her power around Luke's body, holding him in the position he was in and also keeping the demon inside of him from using any of it's powers. Her hold wouldn't last long, but it would have to last long enough. Looking up to Connor, she saw that he had seen the eyes too and was preparing to follow her lead. "Kellen, get everyone inside the house and don't let anyone in here." she ordered, knowing that after what he had found out about her life that he would do as she said.

"What? Why do we have to go inside?" Gwen raised an eyebrow but didn't fight against her brother as he grabbed on to her arm and lead her toward the door that led straight into the house.

"Alright guys, show's over. Let's get inside and find something else to do with our time." Kellen called. There were about fifteen other people in the large garage and though each of them knew not to mess with Kellen, they wanted to see what was going to happen next.

Ana could feel the demon fighting against her hold and she knew it wouldn't be long before it was able to break loose. "What do you want?" she asked, knowing that with everything going on this possession had to be more than just to screw with her life.

"You're pretty little head on a platter of course." The demon spoke as it finally broke loose of Ana's hold and used it's powers to throw her across the room. Gwen screamed as Ana's back hit the wall on the opposite end of the room and her friend groaned as she fell to the floor. Opening her eyes Ana could see Kellen still trying to get everyone to go inside, but now that they had caught the beginning of this fight they weren't sure whether to hold Luke back or to just get the hell out of the way.

Connor stepped forward and forced the demon to it's knees with his power, his brain trying to form a plan that wouldn't kill Luke in the process of ridding his body of the demon. He looked toward Ana and watched as she stood up from the floor, her expression changing completely from the carefree young woman she had been minutes before to the determined hunter he had rarely seen.

"You all need to get out, now!" Ana yelled at the group of people watching them, glad that Kellen was still working on getting everyone out of the way. She looked around the garage as she pushed some of her power into Connor via their bond, he was strong, but not strong enough to hold the demon down while she quickly formulated a plan. Her eyes landed on a can of spray paint and she could have cried out in relief as her next move fell into place. Hurrying toward the can, she picked it up and shook it quickly, moving toward an empty area of the garage floor. She popped the cap off and went to work on creating a devil's trap, making sure to push more of her power into Connor while she worked.

The demon must have been stronger than they had first thought because it broke out of Connor's hold and stood up, wrapping a hand around the witch's throat and lifting him off of his feet. "That wasn't very nice." it sneered at Connor before throwing him across the room.

Ana had just finished the devil's trap as the demon stalked toward her. Reaching behind her back she pulled her a knife out of the waist of her jeans, she hadn't been able to bring her pistol because it would have been too obvious due to the tightness of the shirt she was wearing. The demon laughed as it saw the knife in her hand, "You and I both know that you aren't going to hurt me with that. This meat suit is someone you don't want to hurt, no matter how much you don't like him. Am I wrong?"

"This is just a precaution." She tilted the knife back and forth a bit, "There won't be any spilled blood by the time I'm done sending you back to Hell." As she spoke, she could see Connor getting up off of the floor and Kellen finally getting everyone into the house. With no more witness, they were free to use their magic fully. Connor must have had the realization too, because he didn't move a step toward where the demon and Ana stood, facing each other off across the width of the devil's trap, but he threw his power out at the demon, causing him to stumble into the trap. "That was honestly the easiest trapping I've ever seen happen. You think they would have sent someone smarter." She commented to Connor.

The demon laughed darkly, watching as Connor walked around to stand by Ana. "You pathetic little girl. They warned me about the powerful Good witch, warned against coming here alone." he shook his head, "Good thing I'm just the opening act."

Ana and Connor's heads snapped toward each other, trying to figure out what else could happen and what they needed to do to protect everyone, but their thoughts didn't get far before they were interrupted from screams coming from inside of the house.


	41. Chapter 41

**A/N: Happy New Year everyone! Who's ready for the next installment? The response I've been getting on this lately has been a huge inspiration and I would like to thank you all for the support :) Please let me know what you think. I love getting reviews, be they good or bad. I would also like to comment that this is most likely going to be a rather long story, I have a lot of it already written out in parts and planned out in my head, so here's the question: Would it be more enjoyable/ easier/ or what have you if I break this into multiple stories or would you rather me just continue to post on this one? Or do you even care, because I imagine it doesn't matter to some? Let me know ;)**

 **TheHungryRainbow: Thank you so much for the review! I'm so glad you're enjoying it!**

Ana turned and sprinted for the door that led into the house. She had no idea what to expect as she opened the door and threw it open, but what her eyes focused on was a room full of people laughing. Confused, she looked around until she caught sight of a very drunk guy she barely recognized sprawled out on the floor wearing a dress that was extremely small. The screams must have come from some of the people surprised by the man tripping and shattering the glass that had been in his hand. Content that no one was being murdered, she walked back into the garage and closed the door behind her, stopping only for a moment to spell it so that no one else would be able to go through it. Turning to focus on the demon still stuck in the trap, she crossed her arms over her chest and walked back toward it. "You almost had me for a minute." Ana spoke, still unnerved by the expression on the demon's face.

"I never said that the rest of the show was here." He pointed out.

Fear instantly wracked her system as she began to worry about the family that wasn't with her, but before she could come up with a plan to figure out who was in trouble Gabriel appeared by her side. "Exorcise him." She told Connor quickly, thankful that he had learned how to when they had first gotten together. "How bad is it?" she asked Gabriel, she could tell that her family needed their help, but they couldn't leave a demon here unwatched.

"Let's just say we need to move fast and the two of you may or may not need to brush up on a memory spell if you don't want your family to remember what's happening." Gabriel looked slightly flustered, the situation would have had to been pretty bad for the archangel to lose his cool.

A yell followed by the swirl of black smoke that ran around the room before it was driven through the concrete of the garage turned Ana's attention to Luke's unconscious body. Flicking her gaze up at Connor, "We need to go." she told him, ready to teleport to their motel room to grab her weapons, but Gabriel's hand on her arm made her pause.

"They're all at the Feragen house. The place is surrounded and we're not entirely sure how big the force is, but we're fighting off as many as we can. Be careful." He warned before disappearing.

Ana glanced at Connor over her shoulder before teleporting away, knowing that he would be able to follow her. Instantly moving for the duffle bag that held their weapons and spell supplies, she began to arm herself. A pistol filled with devil's trap rounds and an extra magazine, both of which she stuck in the waist of her jeans. Grabbing her other duffle bag, she dug out a thin black leather jacket, one that she had bought recently and had spent time on making it into a wearable arsenal carrier. Connor appeared next to her, seeing that she was getting ready to go, he began to get ready himself. "What took you so long?" she asked as she pulled an angel blade out of the duffle and hid it inside the inner lining of her jacket.

He glanced up at her as he grabbed an angel blade himself and the pistol that had been deemed his even though he rarely used it, "I went inside and told Kellen what was going on. He's going to stay at the party and keep Gwen there, partially to keep them safe, partially to make sure that nothing else was going to go after the people there."

Ana nodded, "Thanks. I have a feeling that we're not going to be doing much damage with this stuff." she told him, slipping a flask of holy water into her pocket.

"If the force is as large as Gabriel says it is, I'm going to assume that we'll do the most damage with magic, but better safe than sorry." Connor sighed, grabbing the small bag full of supplies he kept in his duffle for emergencies. It held basic herbs, stones, and other things that could be used for a variety of things, he had a feeling that if it was going to be used for anything this time around, it would be for healing and that thought made him worry.

Double checking to make sure that she was armed as much as she could be, she looked at Connor and held out her hand toward him. "Gabriel," she began to pray, knowing that it was the only way that the archangel would hear her, "we're on our way. We're going to start on the outside and work our way in, hopefully we can make more of a dent that way. Let everyone else know." Once she was done and Connor's hand was in her own, she gave him a weak smile, "Stay safe, be smart." she instructed him, kissing him on the cheek before she dropped his hand and teleported to the north side of the house. The nice thing about the connection that she and Connor had was that a lot of things could be left unsaid and still understood, which was why he knew to appear to the south side of the house and that they would both work their way through as many demons as they could alone.

When Gabriel said that the house was surrounded, he hadn't been exaggerating. From across the street Ana could make out demons all over the yard, driveway, and the sidewalk in front, waiting for their chance to have a hand in the attack. This was going to be a long, hard fight and Ana was sure that their chance of everyone making it out alive was slim. Stealing herself, she pulled her pistol out and loaded the first round into the chamber by pulling the slide back. The first round she fired signaled her presence and though she had stopped one demon in its tracks with the first bullet, the mass that ran toward her was larger than she had taken on alone before. Pushing all fear aside she drew the angel blade out in her empty hand and advanced on the oncoming sea of demons. She fired her pistol over and over, hitting demons square in the chest, stopping their movements suddenly, but it didn't seem to be doing much against the numbers coming at her.

The first one within arm's reach got the angel blade shoved through his throat and she moved his body in front of her as a shield while she fired the remaining bullets in her pistol. It emptied quickly, stopping another four demons in their tracks before she slipped the gun back into the waist of her jeans and pushed the body off of her blade so that the weapon was free to use. She turned and shoved it through the stomach of another demon as she pushed the crowd back with a wave of her hand, making it easier for her to attack a few at a time rather than all at once. Which was what the plan had been until she felt a force clamp down around her throat, cutting off almost all of her oxygen supply. There was a collective dark chuckle at the sight of her body fighting against the hold, but the demon was one of the strongest among the group, making it clear by using it's power to raise her off of the ground.

"Your luck has run out little witch." the female spoke as she made her way through the crowd, a proud smile seeming to be glued to her lips, "It was just a matter of time." she continued, stopping a few feet away from the hovering witch.

Ana smiled, raising her own hand out toward the demon, being able to retaliate now that she knew which one was attacking her. Focusing as much as she could with the lack of air, she curled her fingers toward her palm, slowly turning her arm as if she had a hold of something and was twisting it around. Essentially, that's what she was doing. It was an act similar to what Sam had been able to do when he was running on demon blood, exorcising demons without words, but her version didn't require any demon blood, thankfully, and it was a lot more permanent than what her uncle used to do. The demon stood frozen, the force of Ana's magic around her keeping her from moving and successfully releasing Ana from her hold, causing the witch to drop the short distance to the ground. The only thing keeping Ana on her feet once she landed was her sheer force of will and the stubbornness to not show weakness in front of her enemies. Sucking in a deep breath she forced more magic into what she was doing, completely balling her fist and twisting it as much as her arm would allow. In one swift motion Ana pulled her arm back and then quickly swung it toward the ground, as if she was throwing something out of her hand, causing the demon to clutch at her chest. Black goo began to bubble out from her mouth, ears, nose, and eyes. The other demons stood back and watched in fear as one of the most powerful among them was ended in a way few of them had heard of before, let alone seen.

"That's not possible!" One of the demons yelled and ran at her, ready to attack, but Ana spun and shoved the angel blade into his stomach.

She shook her head as she looked around, some of the demons had been so put off by her display of power that they seemed to be holding back, trying to decide if they wanted to chance meeting the same fate as the one before them. In some form of silent agreement, they all moved at the same time, seeming to decide that if they all attacked at once they would have a chance at taking on the powerful witch. What they didn't seem to understand was that not only was she a witch, but she had the same scary calm her father did and, just like with Dean, when she seemed perfectly at peace during a battle was the time to run.

Taking a few steps forward, Ana met the force head on and fought with a focus she had rarely felt before. Being outnumbered almost twenty to one didn't seem like that big of a deal when only five or six could surround her at once and that added to how aware she was of the amount of power she had building within her, she felt unstoppable. As the fight continued, she found herself now standing on the grass just in front of the large window that looked out from the living room of the house. The action had pushed her closer and closer to the house and now that she could see inside she could see that the two hunters and the two angels inside had their work cut out for them. _This is taking too long and I don't like the looks of how things are going inside._ Ana sent the thought to Connor through their bond while she pushed back the demons still left fighting her. She knelt to the ground, muttering a spell as she spun in a smooth circle, dragging the angel blade on the ground as she swirled around. Her voice grew in volume as she closed the circle she had drawn and with a few last words uttered she raised the blade in the air then drove it into the earth with such force that it was buried up to the hilt. Keeping herself close to the ground, she covered her eyes with her arm and turned away from the blade as a bright white like filtered out from it and shot out around her, seeming to pierce every demon around her. Screams filled the night as they died and the light faded, making it safe for Ana to lower her arm and glance around. Pulling the blade from the ground, she looked it over as she stood. _What was that?_ Connor's voice filled her mind, the tone was full of worry.

 _I'll explain later. I'm heading your way._ She sent back, tossing the angel blade aside, it was useless after her little stunt. Jogging around to the back of the house, she pulled her pistol back out from the waist of her jeans, dropped the empty magazine and replaced it with the extra one she had brought. Taking a deep breath, she paused at the door in the wooden gate that closed off the backyard, making a quick assessment of her injuries since she hadn't really been paying attention while she was surrounded by demons. She would make it, nothing too serious yet and even if it was she would fight through it, there was no way that this would end well without everyone working together and that included her.

Finally pulling the door open, she raised her gun as she walked into the yard, seeing Connor in pretty bad shape. Thankfully he wasn't taking on as many demons as she had and it seemed that he had been holding his own, but not without his own assortment of injuries. With another deep breath in, she began to fire at the demons surrounding him, emptying the clip into the last few as she finished letting the breath out. There were three left fighting, one focused on Connor as the other two came running toward her. Without a second thought, Ana tossed her pistol aside and extended both arms out, palms facing toward the demons and stopping them in their tracks as she repeated the same process she had with the female demon that had tried to suffocate her on the other side of the house.

As the last of the black goo came out of their bodies, they crumpled to the ground and Connor had a clear line of sight to Ana. He had ended the demon he had been fighting shortly after it had attacked and he had just been watching in shock and confusion as Ana used her powers to kill the two demons that had moved to attack her. "Where did you learn to do that?" he questioned, voice oddly level for how panicked he felt.

Ana's eyes moved from the bodies on the ground to Connor, "I'll explain that later too. Right now we have twelve demons here that still need to be dealt with and they need help inside."

"What's the plan?" He questioned, knowing that he wasn't going to get any answers out of her at the moment.

"You head inside and give them a hand, I'll exorcise these ones and then come in to help." She instructed, looking around at the demons who were stuck because of the devil's trap bullets. "I'll make quick work of this, hopefully since there isn't a constant stream of demons from the outside they've already got it under control in there."

Connor simply nodded and headed inside, hoping that they did have it mostly under control. He hadn't been trained as a hunter like the Winchesters, his body wasn't prepared to deal with pain like theirs were. As he reached for the doorknob to go inside, he winced, something was definitely broken and he was sure that his shoulder was out of socket. He would have someone look at it when everything was said and done.

Ana turned her focus to the twelve demons stuck in random parts of the yard, "Alright ladies and gentlemen, one way trip back to Hell?" she questioned, not waiting for a response as she forced them all to their knees with her power. "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii…" She spoke loudly, waiting as she reached closer to the end before pulling each bullet out with a swift move so that the demons would be able to be purged from the humans they were possessing. There was a collective yell as black smoke filled the air around her momentarily before being plunged into the earth and drove straight into Hell. Sighing, Ana shook her head, her body was growing weak as she continued to use her powers on such a large scale and she was glad that this wasn't an often occurrence. Turning to make her way inside, she was glad to walk through the house and into the living room to see her uncle finishing off the last demon inside the house. "Can we not get one night of normalcy?" she questioned with a groan, drawing the attention of the room to her.

"You look like you got your ass kicked." Dean commented, sighing as he picked up a beer bottle off of the coffee table and downed the remaining contents.

Ana scoffed, "Look who's talking. You should be glad I'm alive, I took on at least thirty on my own out front."

Sam nodded, "Yeah, we caught sight of it a couple of times." he wiped the demon killing knife that was in his hand along the thigh of his jeans, getting rid of the blood.

"What the Hell was that light anyway?" Dean questioned, setting the bottle back down, "New spell?"

"Try impossible spell." Gabriel interrupted, crossing the room and looking at Ana with a slight glare. "Where did you learn that?" he basically demanded, arms crossing over his chest.

With a roll of her eyes, she threw her arms in the air in a dramatic huff, "Can I not be questioned about everything I do? First Connor, now you. It's all magic and I'm not hurting anyone human, so what does it matter?"

"What you did, shouldn't have been possible." Castiel began as he tucked his angel blade back inside of his trench coat, "It's something that only higher ranking angels have ever been able to do." he explained, blue eyes focusing on her in an almost accusing manner.

"Uh, hello? Anyone want to fill us in on what exactly my daughter did out there?" Dean looked between Cas and Gabe, holding his arms out as if he was waiting for them to physically hand him an answer.

There was the sound of someone clearing their throat, "Or you know, explain to the rest of us what the hell just happened?" Heather spoke up, glancing around at everyone. She and the three of the Feragen family that were there had been pushed against a wall and told to stay there so they weren't in the way.

"One thing at a time, alright?" Ana questioned, glancing between her dad and her aunt. Turning to address her father first, she sighed, "I may have opened the angel blade and released the grace that was inside of it, causing it to spread out and take out all of the demons at once."

"Wait, wait, wait. Back up a minute," Dean looked at the angels, "There's grace in an angel blade?" he questioned, obviously unaware of the information before hand.

Gabriel nodded, "What else do you think made them so powerful? When they were forged, dear old dad placed a small amount of grace in each one so that they would be pure. That's why they're so effective against demons."

Sam nodded, it had been a possibility he had considered more than once. "So what Ana did was release the grace that was inside of the blade?" he asked rhetorically, having heard his niece's explanation, "What makes that such an impossible thing? We've all come to the understanding that she's a powerful witch, maybe her power is just great enough to open it?"

"No, that's not entirely it." Castiel shook his head, "Not only is it something that only archangels are supposedly able to do, but the incantation that she would have had to use is Enochian."

"Witch? Archangels?" Hank questioned, brow furrowed as her looked at them all skeptically.

Ana held a finger up at him, "One thing at a time, I promise we'll explain everything shortly." she turned her attention back to Cas, "I've spoken in Enochian before, what's the big deal this time around?"

"Last time you spoke it was when you were still carrying around my grace, princess." Gabriel spoke up, "But since it's no longer with you, we're kind of confused as to how you would know the incantation."

"It has to be some side effect of carrying your grace around for so many years." She offered, not being able to think of a different explanation. "There were bound to be a couple of things that stuck around in my subconscious. Maybe it's only triggered by me using mass amounts of magic like I was outside."

Connor stepped forward, he had been keeping himself out of the main group and just watching patiently, waiting for the right time to speak up. "Speaking of your mass amount of magic use, would you like to explain to me how you exorcised a demon with your mind?"

Dean and Sam shared a quick, wide eyed look before they looked back to Ana, "You did what now?" Dean demanded, frowning in concern.

Sam stood silent, face looking a little paler as he worried that his niece was somehow traveling down the same road that he had when he was younger. Flashes of memories played through his head. Ruby, Lilith, and Lucifer all swirling around in a strange dance, mocking him and the inevitable downfall of the Winchester family. Shaking his head, he forced his focus back to what his niece was saying, coming back to the conversation at the end of her sentence.

"I didn't exorcise them. I killed them."

"How, Ana?!" Dean demanded, not liking what he was being told or the look that Cas and Gabe were sharing as they silently communicated something that looked like it should concern him.

"Magic!" Ana snapped, running both of her hands through her hair as she took in a deep breath. "Everything I'm able to do that isn't normal is magic, haven't you figured that out by now? I figured it would be pretty clear after knowing I'm a witch for over a year!"

Connor sighed, he hadn't wanted to turn this into a fight, he had just wanted answers. "Ana, calm-"

"I swear to God, Connor Alexander Mohr, if you tell me to calm down we are going to have a much bigger issue here." Ana fixed her glare on him before slowly turning her attention back to her father and uncle, finally realizing that panic that was running through Sam's body. "I killed them using my magic in a way that is similar to what Sam was able to do, there's no spoken spell, no exorcism, just my extreme focus and control of my power. I spent a lot of my time away at college trying new spells and creating some of my own, part of this one had already been created in hex bag form by some which from hundreds of years ago. All I had to do was tweak it a bit and I was able to kill a demon without a weapon other than my magic." she told them, glad to see that Cas and Gabe had been listening as well so she didn't have to repeat herself.

"Will someone please explain to us what's going on?" Callie almost screeched, her eyes wide with panic as she tried to understand everything that had just happened and what everyone else was talking about.

Ana rubbed her fingertips across her temples, her eyes focusing on the three men that had been questioning her. "Why don't we finish this later and give these guys some answers." she offered, waving her free hand at the normal part of her family. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and began a text to Kellen to instruct the siblings to come back to their house.

Sam and Dean both turned to look at the four people who were still standing near the wall they had been directed to when the fight broke out, taking in each of their expressions and trying to mentally prepare themselves for how they were about to handle what they wanted to be told. They were already scared and confused, watching four guys go head to head with a demon home invasion was probably something they had never thought they would see. Letting out a slow breath, Dean nodded and turned back to look at Ana, who seemed more stressed out than phased by the fight. "You sure about this? It's not the first time we've had to give this talk to people, but I know you wanted to keep them out of all of this."

"I think it's kind of late to keep them out of it." Ana answered as her phone vibrated in her hand, "But if we're going to tell them, we might as well wait until Gwen gets here so I don't have to repeat myself." Opening the text she received, she shook her head and lowered it back down to her side. "I guess they're almost here anyway." There was a short silence in which no one really knew what to say, each person dealing with whatever was going through their own head. Looking around the room, Ana frowned at the state it was in. Dead bodies had been almost forgotten on the floor and she knew that there were large numbers of them littering both the front and back of the outside of the house. "New plan," she began, her voice filled with a confidence and authority that she rarely took on, "we need to clean this up. Cas and Gabe, could you guys handling the bodies? The rest of us can pick up the house."

Gabriel scoffed, "Do you really have to ask?" he raised an eyebrow at her and snapped his fingers, causing the room they stood in to be rid of the bodies and put back to the way it had been before the fight broke out.

"I'll go take care of those outside." Castiel offered before disappearing, leaving the four people near the wall in even more shock than they had been when Gabriel fixed everything around them.

"Why don't you all sit down?" Connor offered, being able to sense the panic and shock overtaking their systems. "We'll explain everything once Kellen and Gwen are here, for now, just try to not freak out."

Ana looked at her family, wondering how she had gone from being bound and determined to keep them all out of the scarier part of the world to ready to spill all of the secrets she knew. As she watched them all move away from the wall and take a seat, it clicked in her head. This was all bound to happen, there was no way Ana could be such a big part of the craziness going on between the angels and the demons while at the same time expecting each supernatural race to leave her unsuspecting family completely alone. It was clear how naive the thought had been in the first place, "I need a drink." she commented before turning to walk toward the kitchen, but was caught short as Cas suddenly appeared in front of her.

"I believe this belongs to you." He told her, holding the pistol she had discarded outside in his outstretched hand.

Taking the gun, she tucked it in her waistband, "Thanks, Cas." she gave him a soft smile, then moved around him toward the kitchen, feeling almost ready to have a replay of the night she cut her foot on the glass of the broken whiskey bottle. Opening the refrigerator, she grabbed a bottle of beer, ignoring the presence of her uncle as he walked her direction through the house. Unscrewing the cap, she tossed it in the trash and took a large drink just as Sam walked into the kitchen.

"Sometimes you act so much like Dean it scares me." Sam stated with a soft chuckle, stopping just inside the entryway and leaning against one of the counters. He stood there a moment, accepting the silence as he watched his niece take another drink out of the bottle in her hand and taking the time to collect his thoughts.

Ana sighed, "Come on, Sam, out with it." she leaned forward on the island in the center of the room, resting her forearms on it. "I know what's on your mind, you just gotta fill me in on what exactly you want to know."

The tall man let out a slow, deep sigh. "I would just like a better understanding of how exactly you're doing it. The only way I could exorcise a demon was hopped up on so much demon blood that it almost took away my humanity and here you are killing them from the inside out."

"There's one big difference between the two of us. I'm a witch." She told him, pushing herself back up so she was standing. Walking around the kitchen she stopped at the counter that was just across the room from where he was standing and she pushed herself up on it so that she could sit. "I don't need demon blood to have power to do something like that and I promise the only reason I'm ever near demon blood is when I'm killing one. It's not dangerous for me to kill them like that, other than the fact that it takes a lot of my energy, it's not even labeled as dark magic."

Sam nodded, taking in everything that she was saying and considering it as he thought about the situation. "You understand why I'm worried though, right? I have all of the faith in the world in you, Ana, but I just had to be sure you weren't somehow being led down the same path I had been."

Giving him a soft smile, she nodded, "I get it, I do, but you need to trust me too. This magic and witch stuff is still all pretty new to you, me, and dad, but I need you both to give me the space to do what I'm capable of without breathing down my neck in fear that I'm going to do something wrong. I'm going to make some mistakes, you should have seen some of the ones I already have, but it's part of learning and you should understand that." Hopping off of the countertop, she walked over to her uncle and stopped when she was standing in front of him. "Just remember that I'm a Winchester and though I'm going to mess up, possibly in a huge way, at least I'll have the determination and stubbornness to fix anything I cause."

Sam smiled down at her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and walking with her back toward the rest of their group. "You definitely are a Winchester." he commented, squeezing her to his side and placing a kiss on the top of her head. "You ready to explain everything?" he questioned quietly as they came closer to the living room where everyone was sitting, waiting for the two of them to join the group.

"No, but it has to happen and we're going to have to find a way to keep them safe in case they're attacked again." Ana answered before taking another drink from the bottle, finishing it in the seconds before they entered the room. It was close to silent in the room as they joined everyone and she noticed that Kellen and Gwen were both among them now.

Kellen looked up from what he was whispering to Connor and caught sight of Ana across the room. Just like her dad, uncle, and Connor, she looked like she had been through the ringer. There was a split through the skin in her eyebrow, a long cut down her cheek, slashes through the fabric of the ivory shirt she wore and reaching into the skin, he could see long lines of open skin on her arms and torso. "What the hell happened?" he questioned. For all of them to look so rough it had to have been something big.

"Demons. A freaking hoard of them." Ana answered, stepping away from her uncle and moving through the room. As she passed the coffee table she set her now empty beer bottle down and turned to look at everyone, "Alright, let's get you all caught up. It's going to be a lot of information and it's going to sound really crazy, but just bare with me. Deal?" When no one responded, she gave a short nod and began to tell them everything. A long speech about monsters that most people only thought existed in movies, about how Heaven and Hell, angels and demons were all real. She told them about how the apocalypse almost happened, about her family's involvement in ending it and how they locked both Lucifer and Michael in the cage. Taking the time to explain to them that she was a natural witch, about her relation to the Salem witch Sarah Good and how she and Connor were each a part of two very powerful witch lines. Explaining shortly about the number of times demons had come after her and the seemingly endless list of ways they wanted to use her to end the world or make it so that they were in charge took more time than she wanted it too, the look of shock that crossed their features almost broke her heart. If only she could keep them out of all of this. Finally she wrapped up with the fact that both demons and the angels that were working with them would be coming after her, to either keep her from stopping their plan to release Lucifer and Michael or to use her to do so.

Kellen sat silently as he heard this all for the second time, watching his family react to everything Ana was saying and he wondered if things would ever be the same between all of them. "Why are you so calm about all of this?" Gwen's voice pulled him out of his thoughts, "You don't look nearly as freaked out as you should be."

With a shrug of his shoulders, he sunk down further in the couch he had taken a seat on during Ana's story, "Kind of doesn't surprise you the second time around."

"You told him before you told me?" Gwen questioned, clearly upset that her best friend had confided something like this in her brother rather than herself.

Ana rolled her eyes, "Different circumstances, Gwen. Anyway, if I could have kept this away from all of you, I would have. It seems like you're going to need to keep your eyes out though, so I'd rather you be aware and able to act than not know what was going on and die."

Heather, Monica, and Hank all shared a few looks, wondering how to take the new information. There was no way they couldn't believe it, they had watched both Dean and Sam go up against the demons and while the fight was in action they saw both the two angels and the demons do things that shouldn't have been possible. "Okay," Heather finally spoke up, turning to look at her niece, "what do we do now?"

"Now you get a few quick lessons on how to protect yourself." Ana told them, knowing that if she wanted them to live while she was trying to stop Jade and her army that they would need to know how to keep themselves safe.


	42. Chapter 42

**A/N: Guys! Exciting news! Someone deemed this story worthy of being added to the Best Original Character Supernatural Stories community and I am ecstatic! (Honestly, I didn't know communities were a thing until this happened, but I am so stoked!) The views just keep rolling in and I am incredibly excited about the new favorites and follows, I honestly appreciate all of the support from all of you. So thank you! Alright, back to business… Just an FYI, the beginning of this chapter went a completely different direction than I thought it would, but oh well! Let me know what you guys think :)**

 **eldaearien: Thanks so much for the input on whether to branch out with different stories or just keeping with this one, I will definitely take that into consideration. I'm glad you loved Ana's power show last chapter, she is pretty powerful but we're going to see some of her weaknesses coming up soon :) As always thank you for the review dear!**

Teaching her family all of the things she had hoped to never let them know about was harder than Ana had imagined. It was admitting defeat and she wasn't handling that well. Thankfully Sam and Dean were there to pick it up when she couldn't continue. Castiel and Gabriel had left, yet again, to see if they could find any new information for the group to work off of. They were all in agreement that they needed to get a lead on Jade, track her down, and put an end to her. Hopefully that would put an end to the possible release of Michael and Lucifer. Ana stood on the concrete steps that led from the path from the driveway to the front door, looking at the night sky. It had been a long night and it didn't seem like it was going to ever end, like she was going to be stuck under the same night sky for the rest of her life. That's what it felt like, almost a constant stream of getting stuck in a situation that seemed hopeless and life threatening. Fighting of demons and angels, demons and angels… The only time it had ever felt different was the short amount of time she was away at school and even then she couldn't keep her mind off of the possibility of someone coming after her.

Taking in long, deep breaths she tried to let the cool night air clear her mind, but no matter how many times she repeated the process it wasn't helping. The sound of the door opening behind her warned her of the intruder on her privacy, but then again, things between her and Connor were never really private. "How's it going in there?" Ana questioned without turning to look at him, her focus still up at the stars.

Connor moved to stand behind her, carefully wrapping his arms around her stomach. Their wounds had been healed by the angels just before they left and he was thankful that his arm was no longer hurting, but more so that the cuts on her body had healed. "As well as can be imagined. They're taking it all in, Monica offered to make copies of the symbols that Dean and Sam are showing them so that the everyone has a one and can work on memorizing them." He pulled her body close against his, hoping that his presence would help calm her down. "Kellen's paying extra close attention. I had a thought watching him, but you know him better than I do…"

"What thought?" She asked, eyes still focused upward on the one constellation that she was always able to find. Llys Don; in old Celtic tales it was said that it was the physical representation of the mother goddess Danu watching over the world beneath her. It had been her personal version of the north star since she had learned about it when she was younger.

He half shrugged, not wanting to move his arms from around her body to comply with the full motion, "He just had this look in his eyes, like he was taking everything to heart, making sure it was all stored somewhere in his head where he could easily access it." Taking a moment, he thought about it again and came to the same conclusion, "I think he's considering taking up the hunt."

"Becoming a hunter?" Ana almost shrieked, turning in his arms so that she could looked up at him. "Do you really think that he's thinking that's a possibility?" If Kellen was even considering it she was going to have to put that to an end. There was no way in Hell she was going to let anyone else she cared about join this neverending fight, she couldn't handle adding one more person to the list of people she constantly worried about losing to the evil of the world.

Looking into her eyes, he took his time to chose his words, hoping that he wouldn't say something to upset her further. The fight with the demons, the small yelling match she had gotten into with Dean, having to explain everything she wanted to keep hidden to her family, _and_ the news that he thought Kellen may be considering becoming a hunter was clearly too much for her. "I think that he understands the need for people like Sam and Dean, like you. After what happened tonight he most likely wants to be able to help protect those he cares about and I know the part of him that considers you as much of a sister as Gwen and Callie wants to be able to protect you as well."

With a shake of her head, she pulled herself out of his arms and took a few steps away. Her eyes were focused on the ground, arms crossed over her chest as she spoke. "I can't let that happen, you know I can't. Anyone who ends up in this life dies bloody and I can't let that happen to any of them in there. If I could, I would take dad and Sam out of it too, but I can't. So I'll do what I can and make sure that no one else I love has to join this fight." Finally raising her eyes to his, she winced at the thought that if she could control it she would have made it so that Connor never had to join the fight either. They were stronger together, they both understood that something about being witches and being soul mates made their powers stronger as a pair rather than separated, but she didn't want him to risk his life to be a part of something he really didn't have to be.

"Don't you dare think that, Ana." Connor strode over to her, having been able to pick up on her thoughts as she frantically worried for those she loved. "You are the most important thing in my life and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else other than fighting by your side as you try to keep the world safe." He placed his hands on the sides of her face gently, forcing her to look him directly in the eye and not be able to look anywhere else. "You are part of who I am now and I wouldn't change that for the world, even if that means that I go down in a fight protecting you. I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe, whether you like it or not."

She sighed, eyes slowly closing as she took in a deep breath and then opened them as she released it. "I understand that, but that doesn't make it any easier. Connor, you aren't a hunter and what we're in the middle of? It's hunting at its worst. Big fights with powerful beings and end of the world conclusions, something my family has become all too familiar with." A tear slid down her cheek as she placed a hand on top of one of his that still rested on her cheeks, tucking her fingertips between his index finger and her skin, gently clutching on to him. "This is all just so messed up and I can't stop replaying the fact that I'm at the center of it all. In one way or another I've made myself a key player in anything that deals with the cage or Lucifer and Michael."

"We're the key players, Ana, not just you." He spoke before she could get any further, using his thumb to wipe away the stray tear. "The prophecy is about the two of us working as a team to stop this, you're not alone. You were never meant to be alone in this and you need to get that through your stubborn, Winchester head." Pulling her close to his chest, he held her head there before dropping his hands to wrap them around her in a hug. "We're a package deal now. I'm not going anywhere and I'm not letting you leave, so you're stuck dealing with me fighting by your side."

Turning her face toward his chest, she let herself find comfort in his presence, which was so much easier than it was with anyone else. Something about the lingering smell of the mixture of herbs he kept in his bag of clothes paired with the faint smell of gunpowder from firing the gun he disliked so much calmed her and it wasn't long before she was able to process his words without the nagging voice in the back of her head that told her it was all her fault. He was her's, just as much as she was his. They were meant to be together, they were meant to fight at each other's sides and to keep the other safe. Something had gone incredibly right in the universe and fate had given her a man that would help her through life in more than one way. "So I'm not allowed to run away from this?" she questioned, not moving her head at all, but wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I'm thinking handcuffs. That way you're with me at all times _and_ we can spice up things in the bedroom a little." Connor teased, knowing that now that she was calm he could relax a little.

Pulling back just enough to be able to look up at him, Ana raised an eyebrow, "I know it's been a few months, but last I remember our adventures in the bedroom were going just fine."

He let a contemplative expression cross his face, eyes turned upward as he pretended to think hard on the subject. "Honestly I don't remember, I think you're going to have to refresh my memory." he told her as he looked back down at her, a sly grin forming on his lips.

"You are absolutely ridiculous." She commented with a shake of her head before stepping back away from him, "Come on, let's head inside so I can do what I can to keep Kellen out of the hunting life."

Following Ana inside the house, Connor grabbed her hand as they walked back into a mostly quiet living room. Sam and Dean were talking to themselves in the corner of the room while it seemed everyone else was trying to fully process everything they had just been told. Heading directly toward her father and uncle, she pulled Connor with her, knowing that he would just follow her had they not been holding hands. The conversation the two brothers were having suddenly stopped when they were joined by the witches. "Hey, kid, how ya holding up?" Dean asked, knowing that none of this had been what she had in mind for keeping the rest of her family out of the trouble of their lives.

"Well, I'm not the one having a hushed conversation in a corner that suddenly stops when my daughter appears. So the real question is how are you holding up, dad?" She let go of Connor's hand to cross her arms over her chest. Watching as the brothers exchanged a look, she sighed, "You might as well tell me because I'm going to find out one way or another."

"She's got a point, Dean." Sam spoke up, knowing that it wasn't his brightest decision, but he didn't like the idea of keeping anything from one another when there were other things for them to be worried about.

Dean glared at Sam for a moment before turning to look at Ana, "You want to know so bad, go ask Kellen yourself."

Ana spun and looked at Connor with a raised eyebrow, either the witch standing next to her was slightly clairvoyant or just really good at reading people. "Do I really want to know?" She aimed the question at Sam and her dad, "Is this one of those things I can just ignore and it will go away?"

"Sorry kiddo," Dean answered, "I just don't think this one is going to be that easy. We've already tried to talk him out of it while you were outside, but he isn't listening to us. Maybe he'll listen to you?"

With a scoff, she turned around to look at her friend, "Yeah," she muttered, "and some day pigs will fly." Kellen could be stubborn, very stubborn, and so she had to prepare herself for the possibility that the conversation she was about to begin with him would at some point turn into an argument. They had experienced enough of them growing up because Ana wouldn't back down like his sisters would. "Kellen, let's take a walk."

"Uh oh." Callie leaned over Gwen to look at Kellen, "You're in trouble." she told him in a sing-song voice, teasing him as she did so often when they were younger.

Kellen rolled his eyes at his sister and stood from where he was sitting, knowing that Ana was going to give him an earful about what he had discussed with Dean and Sam. "We won't go far and we won't be gone long. If anything happens I'll let you know." she directed the last part at Connor, knowing that using their connection was the quickest way of communication should she and Kellen find themselves in trouble. Following Kellen she knew that it was unlikely that she could deter him from his plan, but maybe if she played her cards right she could convince him to just stay in the city and protect the people there should anything simple come into town.

"That's not going to go over well." Gwen offered, loud enough to include the whole room in the conversation.

Monica looked up from the center of the coffee table where she had been staring and let out a slow breath, "If anyone can talk some sense into him, it would be her. You know just as well as I do that she is just as stubborn as he is, if not slightly more."

"I wonder where she could have gotten that from?" Sam questioned sarcastically, looking across the room as if he couldn't feel Dean glaring at him.

-A-

"So you want to be a hunter?" Ana asked as they walked down the street they had grown up on, following the same path around the neighborhood that they used to race their bikes around. It was weird to think that the memory wasn't from that long ago, the last time she remembered their regular bike race had been the summer before she turned eleven. Almost ten years ago and in the grand scheme of things that amount of time was nothing compared to things like the long lives Gabe and Cas were living or the time both Sam and Dean had spent in Hell. She looked at Kellen, he was thinking hard about something and hadn't responded to her yet. "Come on, Feragen, spill it."

He smiled softly at that, it had been a long time since they had referred to one another by their last names. "I'd probably be good at it and if there's as much evil in the world as you guys talk about then it sounds like a couple of extra hands couldn't hurt." Kellen turned to look at her and saw her jaw clench at his words. "It's like you leaving college, right? You couldn't do something normal like go to school when you knew that there were bigger things out there."

"I'm sure my family mentioned the casualty rate when they tried to talk you out of it." Ana knew that it would have been Sam's first go to, the fact that more often than not hunters died young and bloody.

"Yeah, they did, but you get enough on your side and soon enough the odds are in your favor." He shrugged, wondering why she wasn't already campaigning for the cause to get more people on their side.

She stopped suddenly and grabbed his arm so that he had to stop as well. "I watched my dad lose both of his parents, watched his mother lose her's. Then you add on the long list of friends they've lost, mentors… family and the numbers are too high for me to want to drag more people into this. They've never met an active hunter that's made it long in life and I would rather keep the list of people I need to worry about being in danger from growing."

Kellen looked down at her, seeing a sadness in her eyes that he hadn't seen since they were little and he didn't like it. Wrapping his pseudo little sister in a hug, he pulled her tight against his chest, knowing that she had spent all of her life dealing with the fact that she had lived through her own birth and yet her mother didn't. Ana had blamed herself for as long as he could remember and now he could see that it wouldn't be any different with those she couldn't protect from the evil of the world. "You know me, Ana, I can't just sit back and not do anything. I understand where you're coming from, but I'm not changing my mind."

"I had to try, though, didn't I?" She sniffled, not moving from their tight hug. It was different, she thought, the way he understood her compared to what Connor and Dean knew. Kellen had watched her many times at her worst in different ways and had always been there to help her back on her feet unlike the new men in her life who only knew the worst of her past from what she had told them. The fact made her realize that the comfort Kellen provided was maybe something more than what the other's could, it was a difference that she needed after what had happened with being held captive by Laylah and then facing down Brandon. Taking in a deep breath, Ana slowly pulled away from him, "Can you at least do me a favor and not go hunting down the big bad's of the world? You're going to do this and I can't stop you, but don't put yourself in unnecessary danger. It's a lot easier to take on a pissed off spirit than it is a group of demons."

"What if it isn't a whole group? What if it's just one demon?" He asked, not being able to hold back his smartass comments.

With a roll of her eyes, Ana pushed herself away from him, "Ha ha ha," she spoke dryly, "you're so damn funny. Let's get back to the house, it doesn't seem like I'm going to have the vacation I thought."

Kellen turned and walked by her side, "You're going to retaliate for the attack tonight?" He questioned. The look that crossed her face made him believe every story of her battles, she was strong and determined, she always had been, but now she had an enormous amount of power at her hands and she was pissed.

"Retaliate? No." She shook her head, giving him a quick glance before she focused forward again.

"Then what are you going to do?" The look on her face gave away that she was planning something.

Ana was silent as they walked up to the front door, her mind was going through plan after plan trying to come up with the best idea. They needed a direction to go, an idea to move toward and other than murdering any demon that had even the slightest thought about continuing to work toward opening the cage, she had nothing. Moving through the entryway and into the living room, she was glad to see that everyone was still there. Their entrance silenced any conversation in the room; Dean, Sam, and Connor looked at her with expectant expressions, waiting for her to say something. "We're going on a killing spree."

"We're what?" Dean was looking at his daughter as if horns had just sprouted from her forehead.

Ana rolled her eyes, "It's the only solution I can think of. Demon killing spree, angels too if we have to. Anyone who has been working to open the cage gets taken out and once they're all dead our problem is solved. What demon or angel would want to try to do something like that after that many of their kind had already fallen?"

"Oh, is that all?" Connor cocked an eyebrow her direction before closing his eyes, "Gabriel, not quite sure how this praying thing works but you and Cas are going to want to hear Ana's newest plan."

"Really?" She crossed the room until she was standing toe to toe with her soulmate, "Are you really going to tattle on me to two angels?"

He shrugged, "I don't know why, but sometimes you'll listen to Gabriel when you won't listen to the rest of us. You're set on this plan, I can feel it through our bond, and it's going to take all of us to convince you of how completely moronic it is."

"I'm on your side for most things, princess, but Connor has a point." Gabriel spoke as he appeared behind her. "Also," he began, moving so that he could see everyone, "Cas and I have been doing some studying on the effects of Red holding onto my grace, so far we're thinking that it's why I like her more than the rest of you."

Castiel gave his brother a pointed look once he appeared at his side, "You like all of them fine. You've been accepted into the makeshift family these two," he pointed to Sam and Dean, "have been adding to for years, there is no need for you to pretend that you dislike any of them. You and Ana just share a different type of connection because of the intimacy that your grace and her soul shared while they were side by side."

Dean scowled, "Did you just say that my daughter's soul and Gabriel's grace were intimate?" Crossing his arms over his chest, he shifted his gaze from Cas to Gabe and glared at the archangel.

"That's not what he meant by intimacy, Dean." Sam explained, sounding a bit exasperated by having to explain at all. "Though I'm incredibly interested in knowing about whatever connection Ana and Gabe have, can we please focus on the fact that she wants to go on a killing rampage?"

"We have been keeping tabs on what's going on here while we've been away," Cas began as he moved toward the center of the group, taking command in a way that he hadn't in awhile, "Gabriel was aware of Ana's plan shortly after she concocted it. It isn't the wisest plan, Anastasia, that amount of death could set off the balance and cause more problems than we face now."

Gabriel nodded, "Cas is right, that could give us more problems than it's worth. Add that on top of the fact that it's a freaking suicide mission and I will knock your ass out if you try it."

"Then what the hell do you suggest we do?!" She snapped, moving away from Connor and meeting each of their eyes once before continuing. "I am so damn tired of fighting off demons and angels at every turn. I've been in this life for less than two years and have spent the majority of it putting an end to plans of opening the cage, one after the other. When does it end? This job, this lifestyle is all about saving people and I am one hundred percent on board with that, but there has to be a way to stop this once and for all."

Sam shook his head, "You can't just put an end to all supernatural beings, Ana."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she closed her eyes tightly and turned her back on the room, needing a moment to pull herself together before she just started yelling at everyone. "That's not what I'm saying." she finally stated, not turning around, "Obviously we can't stop everything in on big blow out, but we need to put an end to the plan with Lucifer and Michael. If not permanently then at least long enough for it to not be my problem anymore because I'm done with it." Slowly turning around, she took in a deep breath as she met the shocked expressions of her family. "How many times does this family have to be the roadblock between the rest of the world and the wrath of them both? This shouldn't be on us, not this many times over."

Dean didn't say anything, having thought those exact words himself a few times before. It shouldn't be all on them, but somehow it always ended up being that way and there didn't seem to be anything they could do about it. Crossing the room he walked until he was standing in front of his daughter, looking down into her eyes with understanding. He placed his hands on the sides of both of her shoulders, "We are going to stop this, but it's not going to be easy and it most likely won't be quick. If you're going to make it through this you need to prepare yourself for that. We're doing what we can, I know it's tiring and repetitive, but we have to push on." He watched as her jaw set and the look in her eyes told him that not only had he motivated her a little, but that he'd also pissed her off. Turning to address the rest of their family, he nodded slightly, approving of the plan forming in his own head, "We're going to head back to the bunker and dig through every piece of information in that library until we have a list of any possible moves that Jade can make to open the cage. We'll have to keep an eye on both the demons and angels, track any moves they make that could be a lead to their next plan, but right now that's all we can do. You with me?" he asked, aiming the question at Ana as he turned to look at her.

She flicked her eyes up to meet his, "I'm going back to the bunker to get started." Was her only response before she teleported out of the room.

"Holy shit!" The swear came from just across the room, bringing the attention of the men to the rest of the people in the room that they had almost forgotten were there. Gwen's eyes were wide in shock as she stared at the place Ana had just been standing, "It's one thing to hear about your best friend being a witch, it's another thing altogether to watch her disappear in front of your eyes."

Kellen nodded, "At least she didn't take you with her. Trust me, teleporting is not something I want to do on a regular basis."

Connor shook his head, turning his focus away from the normal part of Ana's family, "We need to figure out something more than just ending these plans. Ana is slowly losing the very little patience she had in the first place and apparently this is all taking a larger toll on her than we all thought it was."

Dean scoffed, "Aren't you two still connected? If any of us was going to pick up on how far off of the rail she was getting, it should have been you." he pointed an accusing finger at the witch.

"Yes, because her blocking me out is completely unheard of." Connor retorted sarcastically. "Even with our connection, even with being soul mates, she has more power than I do and because of that she has the capability to keep whatever she wants from me. I guess she didn't want any of us worrying about how she's been handling this all."

Sam stepped forward, tired of listening to all of the bickering. "Alright, just stop, both of you. There's a lot on Ana's plate right now. Between the cage, the demons and angels, the torture that Laylah put her through and then having to go up against Brandon himself… there's no way that she's as stable as she has been letting us all think she is." Shaking his head, he pushed a hand through his long hair and glanced toward the sitting area where everyone was watching and listening to their conversation. "What we need to do is meet her back at the bunker so we can get a start on the search with her."

"We'll drive the Impala back, Connor you drive her car-"

"She shouldn't be left alone until we can get both cars back." Connor interrupted Dean, "Why don't I teleport back to the bunker and start helping her tonight. You can come back in the Impala and just leave her car here, we can come back for it when we need it."

Kellen stood from where he had been sitting next to his sister and walked over to the group of men, "I'll drive her car and follow you guys to the bunker. An extra set of eyes could help in your search." he offered, knowing that his family wouldn't like him leaving, but it sounded like they could use some help.

Connor raised an eyebrow at him, "She's going to be pissed when you show up, you know that right?"

"Wouldn't be the first time I've made her mad. Plus, it's not like I'm actually doing anything dangerous, I'm just going to come help you guys read through some books. What's the worst that can happen? I'll get a papercut?" Kellen shook his head, "I'll deal with her when we get there, but from what you guys told me that library is huge and having a little extra help might get you to your solution quicker."

Connor turned his attention to Dean and Sam, knowing that when it came down to it the decision was theirs. The brothers exchanged a look before Dean nodded, "Sure, you can come help, but when she traps you in the bunker when you try to help with something other than reading we're not going to help you." he explained. "Don't act like once we have a lead, you aren't going to want to help because I think we all know that it be a lie."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Kellen shrugged, "I'll stop by my apartment and pack a bag, meet you guys at your hotel?"

Sam nodded, "That'll give us time to get our things and check out." Turning to look at Connor, he gave him a version of the puppy dog look that was more pity than it was trying to con him into something. "If you're missing when we get back to the bunker, we'll come looking for your body."

"Ha ha ha," Connor gave him an unamused look, "You're so funny." He paused a moment as if he was thinking on something, then glancing between Dean and Sam, he sighed, "If she kills me you won't be able to find my body." he grumbled before teleporting out, knowing that he was going to be poking an already provoked lion. Looking around the library and not seeing Ana anywhere, he was on his way to look for her when she came around the corner in different clothes.

She glanced at him for a moment before moving across the room, "Where's everyone else?" she questioned, hoping that Gabe and Cas weren't flying them to the bunker from Montana. The shorts and tank top she had changed into were comfortable and probably a little more revealing than either her father or uncle wanted to see.

Watching as she began to look through one of the shelves, Connor let his eyes linger on her body a moment longer before he walked toward her. "They're going to drive the cars back and the angels are going to go keep tabs on the enemy." he answered, purposefully leaving out the mention of Kellen.

"So they won't be here for a while." She commented, her gaze focused on the bookshelf though she was very aware of him closing the distance between them. When he suddenly stopped just behind her, she closed her eyes, being able to feel his desire through their bond.

Lifting up a hand, he barely let his fingertips touch her skin as he trailed them across her shoulder and down her arm. "So we have the whole place to ourselves, what shall we do with ourselves?" He barely heard the soft sigh that escaped her lips at his touch and he grinned, "I'm sure we can figure something out." With that assurance, he quickly turned her around and maneuvered her so that he was carrying her over his shoulder.

She shrieked when she was suddenly upside, opening her eyes to see that he was carrying her out of the library and down the hallway. "Is this necessary?" she questioned, "I didn't suddenly lose the ability to walk."

"Hush, woman." He teased as he swatted her playfully, "We only have a limited amount of time and I plan to make the most of it."

"Because twelve hours isn't enough time." She countered and giggled as he tickled the backs of her knees in reprimand. "Connor!" she squealed, pleading with him to stop as she wiggled against his hold.

A smile spread across his face, if he got to spend the rest of his life changing her moods like this it was bound to be a good time. He stopped tickling her long enough to open the bedroom door and used his foot to close it again, accidentally slamming it a little harder than he meant to, but that sound and any others that were made in the early hours of the morning wouldn't bother anyone so he really didn't mind.


	43. Chapter 43

**A/N: Holy viewing traffic, Batman! Can I just say how incredibly exciting it is to see the amount of people who are viewing this? Seriously, guys, these numbers are higher than I could have imagined when I wrote the first chapter and I am so thankful for each and everyone of you. From those of you who followed this from the beginning to those just finding it now, I love you all. Who's ready for a new chapter?! It took me a little longer to get up than I had hoped for, my work schedule is crazy right now. Anyway! Fair warning, there is some pretty awesome fluff in this one. Be prepared for some feels, folks!**

 _It may not have been the best idea to drive without sleeping in almost twenty-four hours._ The thought flashed like a lit up open sign in Dean's head as he pulled the Impala into the bunker's garage. His eyes glanced to the rearview mirror to make sure Kellen was still right behind them in Ana's car, he hadn't complained once during any of their stops about the long drive or the fact that he looked exhausted. Sam had tried to convince the kid to let him drive the car at their last gas station stop but Kellen had turned him down, saying that it would just be uncomfortable for Sam and that he was doing fine. Parking in his normal spot, Dean killed the engine and then turned to look at his brother who had passed out in the passenger seat. Shaking his head, he grabbed Sam by the shoulder and shook him, "We're here, wake up." Giving him one more shake for good measure, Dean glanced over his shoulder to see Kellen getting out of Ana's car and moving to get his bag. Stepping out of the Impala he glanced around the garage and smiled slightly to himself, he was glad to be back.

"What time is it?" Sam asked with a yawn as he got out of the car. The moment his form had completely unfolded he reached his arms up toward the roof in a stretch, sleeping in the car always made him a little stiff.

Kellen closed the trunk and met the two men by the Impala, "Almost seven." he offered, glancing at the screen on his phone. He sent a quick text to his family, letting them know that they had made it to their destination.

Dean popped open the trunk to grab his and Sam's bags, more than ready to get inside. Closing the trunk lid, he walked toward his brother and held out his bag, "Well I am ready to eat something and then pass out. We can get started on the research tomorrow." he offered, turning to lead them into the main part of the bunker.

"Sounds like a plan to me. Honestly, I could probably even skip the food." Kellen told them as they walked through the door. He followed behind the brothers and as they moved further down the hallway. Kellen could make out the smell of food as they continued on, though he couldn't tell what it was. His stomach grumbled as the smell grew stronger and he chuckled, "Okay, maybe not."

As they rounded the corner into the library Dean and Sam moved toward the table, each man setting his bag on a table that wasn't completely taken over by books. "Looks like they got some work done."

"Actually we'd just started pulling books we thought might have information we need when Ana decided that she needed to cook." Connor explained as he walked into the room from the kitchen. "How was the drive?" he could clearly tell that they were all tired, but he wanted to make sure they didn't run into any trouble along the way.

Sam skimmed through the titles of the books the witches had already pulled off of the shelves, "Long," he offered, "but I slept through part of it. Neither of these two would let me drive."

"Good, you're right on time." Ana spoke as she moved into the room, she was brushing flour off of her shirt as she walked in. When she finally raised her eyes to the group, she frowned when she spotted Kellen. "Seriously?!" She snapped, sending accusing glares at her father and uncle.

Dean held up his hands in a sign of surrender, "He's just here to help with the research." he explained, knowing that she still wouldn't be happy with them.

Continuing to glare at them for a moment longer, she slowly turned her attention back to Kellen who was slowly taking in the library around him. Closing the space between them, Ana jabbed her finger into his sternum, "If you think you're going to help once we have a plan, you have another thing coming. These books are as far as you're getting into this search, are we clear?"

Though Ana was shorter than Kellen and he outweighed her by a considerable amount the look in her eyes was deadly and it was a little surprising for him to feel a sliver of fear. "Books only, got it." he nodded, knowing that arguing with her now would be useless.

"Alright, good." She poked him once more before turning to look at everyone, "Dinner should be ready in a few minutes, I'll take Kellen to find an empty room and you guys get settled then we can eat." When no one moved at first, the brothers looking at her with raised eyebrows and Kellen too busy studying his surroundings, she rolled her eyes, "Come on. Chop, chop."

Dean turned to look at Connor as Ana led Kellen out of the library, "What's up with her?" he questioned, figuring that he would know since he was the only person who had been with her in the past twelve hours.

With a shrug the male witch turned to walk toward the kitchen, knowing that the timer would be going off any minute. "No clue, she's been like this since we woke up around four." he finally answered over his shoulder as he exited the room.

Dean turned to look at Sam, "It's not just me, right? She's too happy for the mood she left in this morning?" he inquired as he picked his bag back up off of the table, waiting for his brother to pick his up as well so that they could walk down the hall together.

"It's not just you, but would you rather her still be angry?" Sam questioned, shouldering his bag and following Dean's lead out of the library. "Connor probably got her to calm down, they _are_ soulmates and they have that connection so he has to have an understanding of how to do that. At least one better than you or I do."

Thinking on his brother's words, Dean finally nodded, "I guess this is one of those things where it's better not to ask, right?"

"Ask what?" Ana asked as she and Kellen stepped out of the room he would be staying in, "Why are you two being so slow? It doesn't take that long to move your stuff to your rooms." she pointed out, getting the vibe that they had been discussing something private.

"Who made you Bossy McGee?" Dean grumbled, continuing down the hall toward his room.

Ana scoffed softly and shook her head, "What's his deal?" she aimed the question at Sam. Normally if her dad was going to make a snappy comeback it would have been better than that. Sam sighed and glanced at Kellen, he knew what was going on with his brother, but not everyone living in the bunker needed to know. Taking the hint, Kellen excused himself and headed back toward the library to let the two Winchesters talk. Ana's eyebrows scrunched together in worry, "What is it?"

"He's worried and stressed about everything going on." Sam began, tilting his head in a gesture for her to follow as he walked toward his room. "After the demon fight, the argument you two got in and the long drive he's exhausted."

Ana nodded, that all made sense. They hadn't slept in a day and a half, but both brothers were used to running on little sleep and having to function for one thing or another. "What has him so worried? Yeah, we're up against some demons and their big, bad plan to end the world, but it's not the first time we've dealt with something like this."

Nodding as they reached his door, Sam opened it and walked in. "You're right, it's not anything new to us, but things have changed. We're not at the center of it, you are and he probably feels like he has little to no control over the situation." He set his bag down by the foot of his bed and turned to look at his niece, "He's worried for you and what all of this means for you."

She lifted her hand and ran it through her hair, thinking on what Sam had said for a long moment before she sighed in frustration and squeezed her eyes shut. "It's a lot to deal with, honestly I haven't had near the amount of time I need to think about any of it." When she opened her eyes again, she looked up into her uncle's hazel ones and could see the worry that lingered there. "Everything is going to turn out fine, though. We just have to take it one step at a time otherwise we're going to get so wound up with fear of what could happen that we won't be able to do what's needed."

"How can you be so positive about this?" He asked, wondering when the realist he knew as his niece had turned into an optimist.

"Since I started having visions of the two of you, of the rest of our family, one thing became extremely clear to me. A Winchester is a force to be reckoned with and when we work together, there's not a whole lot that can go wrong." Ana gave him a soft smile. "I just can't allow myself to think of what can go wrong. We're going to stop Jade and then we'll do what we have to after that to make sure the cage stays on lockdown. Once that is over we can worry about the prophecy and everything else."

Sam studied Ana a moment, wondering silently to himself if he had ever had the same blind faith she had in that moment. The conclusion was easy to come to; not since he had found out the truth about the world. Oddly, after everything they had been through together paired with the fact that she was a witch didn't seem to be deterring her from believing that they would figure everything out. Taking in a deep breath, he blinked slowly before sitting down on his bed, "Ana-"

"No, Sam." She cut him off, knowing that by the tone of his voice he was going to try to reason with her, but there was no point for him to. "Look, I know better than most the dangers of this life. I've seen every death you've been through and the terrible things that have caused them, but this is the way I see it. If the prophecy about Connor and I having a child is going to come true at some point, hopefully years in the future, we both have to be alive for that to happen. If Connor and I are alive we have the ability to heal you and dad, then there's no reason for me to worry about Gabe or Cas because they can kick more butt than the rest us combined." Pausing, Ana bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from freaking out, which was exactly what she was on the verge of doing. "I have to believe that if something life threatening was going to come our way and take one of us out of the picture that I would see it. I haven't had a vision since we saved Kellen, but I can't think that this power led me to you and this life just for it to let me down by not warning me about the death of someone I love."

It was then that Sam saw it. The happy mood she had been in when they arrived had been the most used Winchester move in the book, something that he and Dean were pros at doing, but it never worked for either of them because they knew each other too well. _She must have gotten the acting genes out of the family_ , he thought as he stood up from his bed and crossed the distance between them. Now that he knew what she had been doing it was so much easier to see past the wall she had put up, the one that made it seem like everything was alright, to the deep-seated fear and pain that she was keeping inside. Seconds after he wrapped his niece in his arm, holding her tight to his chest, he felt her body begin to shake as she silently cried against him. Sam never had the practice Dean did with comforting people. His brother had this way of knowing instantly what to say to make things better, more bearable, but there had never been the need for Sam to really figure it out for himself. When it came to normal things he could figure it out, but when it was something dark and deep like this, he was at a loss. Sure there were times when he had comforted Dean, but they were short lived and far between. His big brother was too stubborn to accept more than a few minutes of consoulance, even when he returned from Hell.

-A-

Connor had been able to feel it the instant Ana broke down. It was like a shock of electricity through their bond, causing him to react instantly. Hurrying out of the kitchen, he ignored the questions Kellen called after him and ran in the direction he could feel her in. As he came down the hallway, he saw Dean leaning against the wall just before Sam's bedroom door and he wondered what was going on, but before he could ask Dean met his gaze and shook his head, raising a finger to his lips in a sign to keep quiet. Coming to a stop, he put himself close to the wall on the opposite side of the door as Dean and quietly moved closer until he could peek into the room. When his eyes landed on Ana wrapped in a crushing hug in her uncle's arms he understood why Dean hadn't stepped in yet. They had been waiting for this to happen, for the inevitable break down and though both men standing in the hallway wished that Ana would have come to either of them, they were both happy with the fact that she had gone to someone. Taking in a deep breath, Connor turned his attention to look at Dean, who was watching his brother and daughter with a look in his eyes that Connor couldn't quite put a name to.

-A-

Sam took in a deep breath, knowing that he needed to say something and hoped that whatever he came up with wouldn't cause Ana to feel worse. He had just opened his mouth to speak when she beat him to it. "I can feel you both, you know?" she spoke, not moving her face from where it was hiding against his chest and he wondered who she was sensing. It really shouldn't have surprised him when both Dean and Connor stepped into the view of his open door.

"How long have you been out there?" Sam raised an accusing eyebrow at both of them, not moving to let Ana go. She still had her face hidden against his chest and he wasn't going to pull away until she was ready to.

Dean shrugged, "A couple of minutes." he answered, eyes glued to the back of Ana's head. Part of him was hurt that she hadn't come to him for comfort, though their relationship could still be a little awkward at times they were still close.

Ana released a deep breath, letting herself lean a little further into Sam as she focused on the feelings of hurt and confusion rolling toward her from both of the men behind her. There was no way she could keep them in the dark, not after she had basically bared her soul to her uncle and got caught in the breakdown that followed. Taking another deep breath she prayed to any force in the world listening to give her the strength to get through this conversation without losing it completely. Pushing herself away from Sam, she glanced up at him with a tear-stained face and gave him a weak smile, a small sign of the thanks she felt for how he had comforted her. "We should talk." she finally said, turning slowly to look at her dad and Connor.

Seeing the strong, confident woman he was in love with broken in such a way made Connor feel helpless. There was no way he could have believed that she had been okay after everything that had happened in the last week, but she had kept so much hidden from him so he didn't accurately know how she was doing. It was clear now that she was worse off than he could have imagined. "Why did you hide this from me?" his tone filled with his own pain from being kept at arm's length via their connection.

"I…" She sighed, looking directly into Connor's eyes as she tried to think of a way to explain properly why she hadn't let any of them in. It wasn't something she had really wanted to do, keeping things locked inside was something Ana was a master at and because of that she knew how much it didn't help. In fact, almost every time she hadn't spoken to someone about her problems it had ended up feeling worse at the end. This was different though, there was no time to spare on a breakdown like she had just done with Sam. There were demons and angels after her family, both of which were working toward releasing Michael and Lucifer from the cage which was something that Ana refused to let happen. "We have our hands full enough without trying to deal with this at the same time."

Dean scowled, hating that she felt like anything came before dealing with the repercussions of what she had been through. Did they have a lot on their plate? Yes. Were they fighting a battle they had fought many times before? Yes. But nothing came before what they could do for one another to keep each other at least somewhat mentally healthy. "You've seen how much of our lives? What could possibly make you think that we couldn't take the time to help you through this?" he finally questioned, arms crossing over his chest as he looked at his daughter. Family always came first; before a hunt, even before the end of the world and if she hadn't figured that out by now he was about to make it pretty clear.

"Oh, I don't know. How about making sure Michael and Lucifer stay in the damn cage?" Ana snapped, her hands rubbing over her face before she pushed them through her hair. Her eyes focused on the floor just in front of Dean's shoe as she spoke, "I may have some problems after everything that has happened, but if we don't stop whatever plan Jade is bound to be cooking up then it's not going to matter anyway because mankind is most likely going to end." Pausing a moment, she raised her eyes to meet her father's and shook her head slightly before continuing, "Either we don't fix this and we keep them locked up or we work through my issues and possibly miss saving Earth's population. That's how I see it."

Sam glanced between Ana and Dean, wondering if their personalities could be any more alike in that moment. Maybe it was her experience with the visions of them before they met or maybe it was just the fact that she was one hundred percent Winchester, but either way Sam was confident in the fact that he could get through to her faster than he ever could with his brother. With the added help of Dean and Connor they would help her move past what happened… hopefully. "Who says we can't do both? At the moment we have no idea what Jade's next angle is going to be and though we're obviously going to have to work through what we can with that, it doesn't mean that we can't also be there for you. Ana, what you went through was horrible, probably one of the worst things you could go through personally, and because of that we can't just let you continue on like this."

Dean nodded in agreement, though he'd been given the same speech by his brother and ignored it, now that it wasn't aimed at him the elder Winchester was all for what Sam was saying. "He's right, Ana. Trust me, we've been to Hell and back, literally. We've gone through Heaven, I went to Purgatory, Sam ran around soulless… Point is that we've been through a ton of crap and though I'm never the first one to ask for help, sometimes you have to just deal with your problems, push down your pride and accept the help being offered to you. Especially if it's family, this family, because we never let anything slide."

It was silent for a moment as Ana argued with herself in her head, knowing that they all just wanted to help her get to a better place, but there was just too much going on. Their focus needed to remain on the problem at hand and she wasn't going to change her mind about that. Slowly moving her eyes from her dad's to Connor's, she wondered why he hadn't said anything since he had asked his one question. Maybe she had pushed him too far, kept him too blocked from what was going on with her. It had been a thought she had kept to herself for a while, but Ana had just been waiting for something to happen to cause Connor to change his mind. They may be soulmates, but he had pointed out once that it wasn't unheard of for someone in her family to go against what fate had planned. So, as she watched him silently stare across the room at the wall behind her and Sam, wondering if this was finally going to be it.

"Would you stop?" Connor snapped, shattering the silence in the room with his desperate plea. "I have never given you a reason to think any of those things, yet you stand there and assume the worst. I'm worried about you and hurt that you'd hide all of this from me, but nothing could make me want to turn my back on you." He paused, taking a moment to glance at the shocked expressions on Sam and Dean's face. "We need a minute." Not giving them time to respond, he wrapped his power around Ana and brought her with him as he teleported out of the room. They didn't need an audience for the conversation they were about to have and he wanted to get out of the bunker so they wouldn't be interrupted. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust from the florescent lights in the bunker to the soft glow of the sun as it set over the water. Connor had brought them to the cliff that he so often found her at after she had first learned to teleport. It was off of the western coast of Ireland and though it could get pretty cold, it was always beautiful to look at. "You're getting worse." It was an observation he had started to make while they were at Kellen's house yesterday, but he hadn't known to the extent that he did now.

Ana sighed, why she even thought she could keep that from him after what he had witnessed in Sam's room, she had no clue, but she had hoped that somehow he had missed it. "Yeah." she nodded slightly, walking toward the edge of the cliff to look down at the bluffs below. "I thought I was doing alright there for a while, but I guess I'm not."

Walking over to stand next to her, he watched her for a moment before turning his attention out toward the water. "Did you really think that it wasn't going to get bad again? I don't understand it a lot of the time, but I knew that after what had happened with Laylah, Brandon, Kellen being missing and then the attack... this was bound to happen." Connor turned to face her, reaching out for her hand, "What I don't understand is why you kept it from me of all people? And don't give me any lines about trying to protect me or whatever other crazy things you come up with, we've talked about this. I wasn't meant to be your soulmate so you could keep me out of any sort of danger, mental or physical, I'm supposed to be the person you don't have to keep things from."

"I know, Connor, alright?" She shook her head and turned away from him, this wasn't something she wanted to talk about right now, but she knew that he wasn't going to let her get out of it. He would just follow her wherever she went until he got her to talk. "It was slowly getting worse before all of this happened anyway. I can't just predict when it's going to get better or when it's going to get worse."

"You don't need to be able to predict it, you just need to be able to ask for help. Ana," he moved quickly so that he was standing in front of her, "You've told me what happens when you keep this all inside. If it's getting worse now, it's just a matter of time before everything that has happened recently takes hold and makes it even worse than that. Get it through that stubborn head of yours that you need to talk about this!"

Ana let out a frustrated sound, "What is there to talk about Connor?! Laylah tortured me with my worst memory, I killed Brandon, almost died taking on a bunch of demons and then had to reveal to my family the one thing I wanted to keep from them. Add that on top of the fact that I've been hunted down by angels and demons the entire time my father has been in my life and this past year and a half has just been one fight after another! Of course I'm not handling any of it well, but who would?"

It took Connor a moment, but as he watched her, he knew there was something else that was bothering her and whatever it was had to be the reason that everything was coming out this way. "What's really bothering you, Ana? There's something other than what we've been up against."

"I haven't seen any of it." She barely whispered as she shook her head, "Other than the vision about Brandon right before he appeared in the cemetery and the one I had about Kellen while I was asleep, I haven't had any visions in over a month. Not when Kellen was originally taken and not when my family was being attacked by a mass amount of demons. Sam had asked me why I was so positive with what we're up against, I told him it was because if this gift, my visions, were meant to help then I would see if any of us were going to get hurt and I can change it." Ana brushed away the tears that slipped from her eyes, "But what if I don't? What if for some reason my visions no longer work like they used to and because of that I lose someone I love?"

He watched her a moment, hating that she had been keeping this all inside, "I don't know what it is, but we'll figure this out. Together. You have got to stop trying to take this all on alone, let us help you. Please?" Connor took both of her hands in his and held on to them tight, "I can't stand to watch you continue on like this."

Ana sniffled and fought back the tears that threatened to take over, she had cried enough. Now was the time to decide what the hell she was going to do about her problem and put that plan into action. Taking in a deep breath, she nodded, "We'll figure this out. Together." she repeated his words with a soft smile, "But first we should go back to the bunker and eat dinner, because I worked pretty hard on that baked chicken and they'll eat it all if we don't get back soon."

Laughing at the truth behind her statement, he returned her smile as he moved his hands to cup the sides of her face, "I love you." he whispered as he leaned down and pressed his lips to her's. Though the words were rarely spoken between the two they both knew that the feeling was there and that it was strong, but how could it not be? They were soulmates, afterall.

The feeling of his magic wrapping around her was the first sign that he was teleporting them somewhere, most likely the bunker, the second sign was the sound of disgust that was emitted from her father's throat when they appeared in the kitchen. "Seriously? Get a freaking room, I don't want to see that." Dean grumbled, averting his eyes from the young couple.

Ana laughed as they separated, turning to see that Connor had brought them into the one room that held all three men they had left behind earlier. Turning, she frowned at him slightly, knowing that he had done it on purpose. When he just grinned, she rolled her eyes and turned back to what the others were doing in the kitchen and it seemed that her guess had been right. Though there was still food left, they had already begun to serve themselves, "Alright, so what's the plan after dinner?" The question was aimed at all of them, assuming that they were all tired and ready to get some much needed rest.

"Well first I'm going to go wash my eyes out with soap and then I'm going to try to sleep through the nightmares that your little display will probably cause." Dean answered, turning to give his daughter a tight smile before returning to the task of filling his plate with food.

Sam laughed, "That's nothing compared to what I've caught you doing." he pointed out, taking a drink from the bottle that was sitting in front of him. "Pretty sure the three of us are going to go to bed after we eat. We can start going through all of those books tomorrow." He informed her, having no reason to believe that they were going to change the plan that Dean had offered up when they had arrived.

Connor moved around the kitchen to get himself a plate of food, realizing that he hadn't eaten all day. "Sounds good, Ana and I can finish going through the books in the library so that we have the ones that could help pulled out and ready to go-"

Kellen snickered at Connor's wording, stopping the moment that four pairs of eyes were turned on him in looks varying somewhere between questioning and disbelief. "Sorry, continue."

Ana laughed, really laughed at the men around her. Mostly at Kellen, but the looks that he was receiving were pretty funny too. "I forgot how you get when you're sleep deprived." she shook her head as the eyes that were focused on her friend slowly turned to her. She shrugged, "What? Ever since we were kids when he got really tired he could find the simplest of things hilarious. As we got older it went from finding things funny to finding them dirty, even if it made no sense."

"That was a good one though." Kellen commented, pointing and squinting at her in challenge. He may have been extremely tired, but 'pulled out and ready to go' almost made him choke on his food.

"If taken far enough out of context, then yes, it was good." She smiled at him, moving across the room to tap her clenched fist against his extended one.

Dean rolled his eyes, "Alright, I have had enough of you people for a night." he commented as he gathered up his plate and beer bottle. Before he left the room, he stopped next to Ana and placed a kiss on the top of her head, "Thanks for dinner." he told her softly before walking out of the room.

Smiling to herself, Ana watched her father leave the room before turning to get herself some food. If she and Connor were going to get through what books they hadn't in the library it was going to be a late night, which was probably a good thing. They had slept for six hours earlier and though their sleeping schedule was pretty messed up anyway, she didn't want to make her's any worse. Joining Sam, Kellen, and Connor at the one small table in the kitchen the group ate and talked for a short period of time before both Sam and Kellen excused themselves for the night. After they finished eating, Connor and Ana cleaned up the kitchen and headed into the library, ready to finish going through the collection of books so that they didn't have to look through the shelves when they began their search the next day.

 **A/N(2): I would love to know what you think about this chapter! As always, thanks for reading ;)**


	44. Chapter 44

**A/N: Hello everyone! Big shout out and thank you to the recent follows and favorites! So I think I've officially decided that at some point this part of the story will end and I will be starting a second part. With where the plot is going there's just a really good place to do so and I would like to be able to keep the general feeling of what happens in this part separate from what's to come in the second. I will keep you all updated on when that will happen, if it even does, I'm so indecisive sometimes. As always I would love to know what you think and hope you enjoy this chapter :) Oh! One more quick thing! There is a new character being introduced this chapter, her name is Caoimhe, pronounced quee-va. It's an old Irish name and the pronunciation for that language can get a tad odd for those of us who speak other languages, so I wanted to provide it for you :)**

 **DracoPotter80: Thank you so much! I love your reviews as much as you love my story ;)**

 **Anameleth: Wow! Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoy my writing and I just can't thank you enough for the kind words. I love reading the type of stories that make you slow down and I'm thrilled that you've done that with mine :) There's still a lot to come in the story, hopefully you enjoy the coming chapters as much as you have the previous.**

 **Cimamango: Oh dear! I hope you start to feel better very soon, but I'm glad that my story could provide what distraction it did. I'm so glad you're enjoying it so far and I've actually been putting some work into an original piece, but we'll see where that goes. Though I'm not entirely in agreement that Ana acts as if she knows everything, if it comes off that way I believe that it's because she's very much a Winchester and I think that Dean probably acted very similar at twenty. There will be some vulnerability coming up for her soon, so please let me know what you think as I continue the story. Thank you so much for the review, follows, and favorites :) I am very appreciative.**

It had been three days since everyone had made it back to the bunker. The research was coming along slowly and though they found a few things pertaining to the cage, none of them had anything to do with how to open it or what one could do to keep it closed. Kellen hadn't been lying when he said another pair of eyes could be helpful, the pile of books that Ana and Connor had compiled that first night was larger than they had anticipated and that made having someone else added to their search a luxury. The group had just finished eating lunch and had sat back down at the tables in the library when the sound of the main door opening echoed through the halls, into the room where the five of them sat. Looking up from the books in their hands, each of them looked at one another as if to make sure that everyone was there, and then their expression turned confused and worried. The angels would have just flew into the room if they were returning therefore whoever was entering the bunker was either unwelcome or they hadn't thought to call ahead. Seeing as how you needed a key to even open that door it was more than likely one of their few friends that held keys to the door hadn't bothered to call. Dean and Sam both stood from the table, each reaching for the pistols that they kept tucked in the waist of their jeans, even in the protected bunker they wanted to be prepared for anything. Just as they were about to move from the table and make their way toward the noise, they were stopped by a cheerful voice that bounced off of the walls from the hall and into the room. "Anyone home?"

"Charlie!" Ana screeched and jumped up from her chair, hurrying toward the hallway and almost running straight into the redheaded hunter as she turned the corner into the library.

Charlie grinned and pulled Ana into a hug, "Hey, Little Red!" she greeted the youngest Winchester as she held her close for a moment before letting her go. "Glad to see that everyone is still alive…" Her eyes stopped on Kellen and she lifted an eyebrow, "with a new addition."

Ana smiled, "Charlie, this is my friend Kellen." turning to gesture at him, seeing that he was the only one still sitting as Connor had stood up to greet Charlie as well. "Kellen, this is Charlie. Our favorite tech guru and all around awesome person." The girls hugged again before Ana moved so that Dean and Sam could get in hugs as well.

"Why didn't you let us know you were coming?" Sam asked as he wrapped the short hunter in a warm hug, glad to see that she seemed relatively unharmed. Last they heard she had been on a hunt that went pretty smoothly, but it had been a over a week since they had heard from her last.

Charlie smiled as she hugged Sam back and then accepted a hug from Dean, "I wasn't actually going to come here, but a certain nosy archangel decided to pop into the passenger seat of my car and let me know that you guys were in it big still. So, here I am."

Ana paused and sent a worried glance toward Connor, seeing that he had the same look in his eyes that she did. "Gabriel sent you?" she questioned, wanting to make sure that she had her facts straight before she let her mind get away from her.

"Uh huh." Charlie nodded, moving to set her things down on a chair as she noticed there wasn't much room on any of the tables in the library. "I see the research part has already started. What are we looking for?" she asked as she pulled her laptop out of it's bag, ready to lend her expertise with technology to aid in whatever they were looking for.

"Possible ways to open the cage that Lucifer and Michael are locked in." Kellen told her as he closed the book that had been in his hands. "So far we don't have much, but we're hoping to find something useful."

Charlie stopped mid-movement, her laptop teetering in her hand as she had been moving to set it down on the table. "You're trying to open the cage?" her face paled as she focused on Sam and Dean, the look in her eyes a mix between shock and fear.

Sam quickly shook his head, "No, we're trying to prevent it from being open. It's the latest problem with the demons and the angels. They're both trying to open the cage to let both Michael and Lucifer out, both for different reasons, but the outcome is going to be the same. If it's open not only will Lucifer be back to wreak havoc on mankind, but Michael will be working with him." He paused, moving back to where he had been sitting to pick up the book he had been midway through. "Or something equally as bad. We're not entirely sure what Michael's mission will be if he's released, but it isn't going to be good."

"Wait, so you're saying that Michael, the highest ranking archangel there is, will be evil if he's ever released." Charlie raised an eyebrow at Sam, "Am I understanding that right?"

"Pretty much." Dean chimed in with a sigh, "Hence the study group. We have nothing to go off of right now so we're tracking down any possible lead and seeing if we can come up with anything while Gabe and Cas do their angel thing to find us more information."

Charlie grinned while she sat down in the empty chair next to the one filled with her bags and placed her laptop on the top of a pile of books, "Well, good thing I'm handy when it comes to research." she told them, the positive attitude that never seemed to leave her filtering out and filling the people around her with a little hope.

Connor frowned as his phone began to ring, knowing that there were few others than those in the room that would be calling him. Standing up he pulled the device out of his pocket and his eyes grew wide as he read the number on the screen, "Excuse me, I should take this." he muttered before hurrying out of the library and down the hall. Ana watched him with a confused expression, not being able to feel much through their bond, he was trying to keep her from whatever was going on.

Dean studied Ana's expression as he walked over to her and rested his hand on her shoulder, "Everything alright?" he asked, knowing her tense expression was never a good sign.

"I don't know." She answered honestly, eyes still focused on the last place she had been able to see Connor before he was out of view. "We should get back to work." Ana flicked her eyes up to meet her father's for a moment, then she went to find her seat so she could finish the book she was working on.

Talking ceased as everyone began to focus on the task at hand, the only sound throughout the room was the flipping of pages and Charlie's fingers moving quickly across her keyboard. Though Ana was focused on what she was doing, she was also focusing on how long it was taking Connor to return from his phone call, wondering who it could have been that he felt he needed to excuse himself from the room and block her from his mind. It had been about twenty minutes before he walked back into the room, stopping just inside the entryway before he spoke, "Ana, can I speak with you?"

The redheaded witch gave him a questioning look as she set her book back down and pushed her chair away from the table. It became clear that he wasn't going to say anything else until they reached wherever it was that he wanted to hold this conversation at and that thought had her worried. He had yet to open their bond back up, whatever the phone call had been about must have been something serious. After following him down the hallway and into his bedroom, she watched as he closed the door behind her before he slowly turned to face her. "What's going on, Connor?" she asked timidly, almost afraid of the answer he would have for her.

"There's some business I need to handle with the Council." He stated, not moving away from the door and instead leaning back against it. Though he had tried to argue with the official that had called him, it seemed that he wasn't going to be getting out of it and they were going to get what they wanted whether he wanted to cooperate or not. "I shouldn't be gone long, but I'll let you know what's going on."

Ana just stared at him for a moment, her eyes slowly narrowing as she tried to fully comprehend what he was saying. "The Council?" Connor nodded in response. "What the hell is the Council?" She was sure that she had heard about it before, probably in one of the documents on her family, but from what she could remember there wasn't any explanation of what it actually was.

With a sigh Connor pushed himself away from the door and walked over to her, "You know about the Grand Coven." he spoke flatly as if it was supposed to explain everything.

"Yeah, but the Grand Coven is barely functioning anymore. With how little witches there are in the world it's in shambles, right?" She was sure that while she had been studying about the history of their families and witches in general that she came across an entry that told about lack of witches basically leading to the Grand Coven's downfall.

"You're right. The Council is similar to the Grand Coven in the way that it's a sort of ruling entity for witches, though where the Grand Coven was based off of power, the Council is based off of lineage. The bloodlines that can be traced as far back as our history goes, natural bloodlines, that's the Council's territory." He sighed, looking down at her, "I hadn't talked to you about it because I didn't think we would have to worry about them. For the most part they stay out of everyone's way unless something goes wrong in the world or a witch goes rogue, but it seems I was wrong. So I have to leave now, but I'll be in contact and hopefully will be back quickly to continue to help in the research." As he spoke, Connor lifted a hand and tucked her hair behind her ear, "I really don't want to leave you right now."

Ana only nodded, she didn't want him to leave either, even if it was only for a short period of time. "There's something you're not telling me." It was clear because he still kept himself closed off from her.

"It's nothing you have to worry about. I just want you to focus on this stuff with the cage and I'll go deal with the Council." He assured her, leaning down to give her a gentle kiss. "I'll let you know when I have more information about what's going on." Before she could respond or ask more questions, he teleported himself out of the room.

"Good talk." She muttered to herself sarcastically, taking a moment to focus on the space he had just been standing in that was now empty. Letting out an aggravated groan, Ana let herself out of his room and made her way back to the library, basically throwing herself down in the chair she had left minutes before.

Four sets of eyes turned toward the sound of Ana sitting down, each person being able to instantly tell that the young witch had not liked what she and Connor had needed to talk about. "What was that about?" Dean asked, knowing that it was a dangerous question, but if it had upset her this much it was probably something they needed to talk about.

"He's gone to deal with some witch stuff with the Council." She shook her head, grabbing the book that sat open on the table where she had left it. "Some witch hierarchy crap if I'm understanding it all right, either way he wouldn't tell me exactly what they wanted and then he teleported away before I could ask anything else." Ana informed them, knowing that she would be bugged by more than one person about the details of it if she hadn't shared enough right then.

The other's at the table shared a look, wondering if they should push it further, but Dean decided that it was probably best left alone and gave them a small shake of his head in signal to not say anything else. With that they returned to their research and stuck with it for hours. They didn't stop other than for dinner until it was late and they were all too tired to focus much on the words in front of them. Ana hadn't heard from Connor since he left and she was becoming worried, but she knew that if he was in trouble or seriously injured that she would be able to feel at least that through their bond, he wasn't strong enough to close it completely. With that thought, she followed the others out of the library and toward her room, ready to get some rest after a long day.

-A-

Four hours later found Ana back in the library, she had a hard time sleeping in an empty bed and still not knowing what Connor was up to with the council was driving her crazy. Throughout the day they had made a large dent in the books that had been piled on the tables and so she went to work putting them all back, the silence in the room only interrupted by the sound of her footsteps and the shuffling of books. Once the ones they had been through had been replaced in their proper places, she began to go through the bookshelves again, wanting to make sure that they hadn't missed a book when they had pulled them down in the first place.

There was a familiar surge of power in the room as she looked over one of the shorter bookshelves. "Ana?" Connor's voice pulled her attention away from the row of books she had been focused on. He looked exhausted, nearly dead on his feet. "I have news."

She hurried over to him, led him over to a chair, and forced him to sit down, "What happened to you? What did the Council want?"

"They're summoning you to a hearing." He sighed, rubbing a hand across his eyes. "You've had enough training with your magic that they deem it the appropriate time to decide…"

"Decide what?" She questioned, sitting on the table next to him, "What do you mean enough training?"

Connor held up his hand to her, gesturing for her to slow down so that he could speak, "It's been their job since it was created to weed out the witches with too strong of powers that they aren't in control of, those who lacked control are either stirpped of their magic or killed. They've been aware of you for a while now and have decided that you've had enough time to learn to control your power. They've decided it's time for you to be tested."

Ana jumped off of the table in a sudden rage, "Oh sure, let me take time out of my busy schedule to meet with witches who have zero control over my life. Do they understand what's going on in the world right now?" she began to pace, "Not only have I been fighting world ending plans by demons since before I came into my powers, but now that I'm up against the possibility of Lucifer and Michael being set free, this is the perfect time for them to summon me?" With an almost primal growl, she slammed her fists down on the table. "Fine. They want to test my powers, let's get this freaking over with, but if the cage is opened while they're _testing_ me, those idiots can deal with Lucifer themselves." Straightening herself up, she took in a deep breath, "Alright, let's go."

"What? Now?" Connor glanced up at her with a raised eyebrow. He had literally just gotten back and all he really wanted to do was get some rest. It had been exhausting, putting up a fight to push off whatever tests they wanted to put Ana up against.

"Yes, now. There's no telling how much longer we have before Jade acts on whatever wild plan she has in her head and I'd like to have this finished before that happens. If you want to rest, I can go by myself, I just need you to show me the way." She told him, brushing a hand through her hair. She wasn't afraid of whatever tests they wanted to try on her and it needed to be dealt with.

He scoffed, "Let you go in alone and piss everyone off? I think not. Come on, I'll take you." he stood and grasped her hands in his own, using his power to teleport them to the place he had just left. "Welcome to the gathering place of the Council."

Ana glanced around at the old brick work, it had to be at most a millennium old, if not more. Taking a moment she studied the long, wide hallway they stood in, right in front of two large wooden doors. "Are we in a freaking castle?" she questioned.

"Uh, yeah. Some lonely countryside in Scotland, it's spelled to make it look abandoned and no one bothers with the place." Connor explained before pushing the wooden doors open and leading her into a large open area.

Following him in, Ana took a moment to take in the classic, medieval look of it all. There were large columns made of brick holding up the ceiling, candles burning in hanging chandeliers, and a thin layer of dust coating most things. At the end of the room was a long table with nine chairs behind it, each filled with a man or women. Their attention slowly turned toward Connor, who was standing in front of her. Ana sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Honey, let me handle this one." she told him softly before stepping around him.

"Anastasia Winchester, descendant of Sarah Good, daughter of Dean Winchester and Stephanie Walker. You have been summoned to withstand the test of the Coun-"

Before the woman sitting in the middle of the table could get much further, Ana interrupted, "The Council. Yeah, I get it. You know who I am, I know who you are, let's skip the formal crap and get right down to why the Hell I'm here when I have bigger things to deal with." As she spoke, her voice grew louder. Taking a few steps toward the table she paused just in front of it, hands on her hips as she waited for someone to answer.

"It is passed time for your testing." A man near the end of the table spoke. He didn't look old, late fifties at most, but the power radiating off of him told Ana that he was much older than he appeared.

"My testing? How about this for testing. I've taken out a group of demons without lifting a hand, gone up against a Knight of Hell, almost died multiple times, and while I'm trying to prevent Lucifer from being risen from his cage you think it's the best time for us to have a little meeting?" She shook her head, "I honestly don't understand how you're supposed to be so aware of what is going on in the world and keeping track of the witches with this coven if you can't even understand that not only is my ass riding on Lucifer staying locked up, so is yours!"

Connor stepped up to her, placing a gentle hand on her back, "You might want to tone it down there a bit, Red."

"No, they want to test me. Let's have it then!" She opened her arms in a wide gesture, something she's sure her father had done more than once, a physical 'come at me, bro' sign. By this point Ana had been through enough that a group of witches wanting to test her for whatever reason was nothing she was worried about.

"We've heard of the trails you have been through, Anastasia, and we understand that you are in control of a large amount of power. The reason we've called you here is not the amount of power you have or the strength behind it, the reason is how you are wielding it." The woman with the thick Irish accent who was speaking stood from her seat toward the middle of the table. Her long hair had clearly once been black, but the color was hidden among the silver that had begun to take over. She wore a long, deep purple dressed that slightly dragged across the floor as she walked around the table and toward Ana. "It is my personal quest to make sure that you remain using your power for good and that you don't let yourself do the sort of things that turns most witches dark. With the amount of power you have, you could have most anything in the world, we need to assess how you're going to let your power play throughout your life."

Ana furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at the woman, "And why have you made this your _personal goal?_ " There had to be a reason for one witch out of the nine to take on such a task.

The older woman smiled kindly, the wrinkles at the edges of her eyes deepening with the expression. "It is a right for family to watch out for one another, is it not?"

"Family?" The younger witch asked, tone shocked. "The only family I have left is my father, uncle, and aunt. Everyone else is gone." She informed the woman standing in front of her, wondering what kind of trick she was trying to pull saying that the two of them were related.

"Your grandmother was my great niece." The woman explained, "My name is Caoimhe."

Ana studied the woman, Caoimhe, her apparent long lost relative. She shook her head, "I'm not great at math, but if you're my great great great aunt or however that works… wouldn't you look a little older than sixty at most?"

Connor stepped up to Ana's side, being able to feel the panic and confusion rolling through her. "Some witches have enough power to live for centuries, to keep themselves young." he explained, sometimes he forgot that she hadn't been raised into this like he had.

"Yes and it is for that reason that the most powerful of us are chosen to take seats within the Council. Because we have the ability to live longer, the chairmen don't need to be changed so often." Caoimhe explained, "For generations we have been able to hold our places until the next witch in our bloodlines with enough power can take over for us."

Ana's forehead scrunched up in concentration, "The next witch in your bloodlines? So the position is handed down through the family?" she was trying to process everything. She had first come in so mad that she was ready to start throwing things across the room, but now the young witch was just very confused. Looking behind the witch in front of her, she noticed that the other witches had somehow slipped out of the room without her noticing, which was strange. She was a pretty good hunter and a great witch, she should have seen them leave or felt them teleport, but there had been nothing. Apparently there was still some areas that she needed to work on.

Caoimhe nodded, "The Council has been ruled since it's beginnings by the nine strongest lines of blood witches." Taking a moment, the elder witch studied her young family member as if she were deciding whether or not she should speak the matter on her mind. "It is true that we've brought you here for a sort of test, to make sure that you are in full control of your power and that there is no need to worry about you possibly being a risk, but also for another matter. We need to know if you are strong enough to take over my position when the time comes that I need to give it up."

Both Connor and Ana's eyes went wide. "You want me to take over your position on the Council?" Ana's words were barely whispered. "Are you kidding?" She almost screeched after that, panic settling into her chest at the thought of having to do something so obviously important at a young age.

"I am very serious. It wouldn't have to be for a while, I'm still doing just fine, but you've been the most powerful witch our bloodline has produced since I was born which makes you our only option." Caoimhe reached out for Ana's hand and held in comfortingly in her own, "This is nothing to panic over, dear, there is still a lot to come in life for you and I still have time left. The Council as a whole just likes to be prepared for the next step when it comes to these things. What we need you to focus on now is the task you have at hand. We do understand what you've been going up against with this Lucifer and Michael business, though we can't offer much help, if you need anything all you have to do is ask."

Whipping her head around to look at Connor, Ana asked him a silent question and he turned back around to address Caoimhe. "What about her testing?"

The older woman smiled, "Oh, little lass, you're testing was over after you stormed through here in a rage and didn't take anything out in the process. The nine of us have been around for so long that we can feel the power within you, any witch without control or morals would have let her magic fly with her anger. You just used your words."

Ana nodded, she probably would have been alright for any explanation that her ancestor would have given her at that point. Her mind was racing at a thousand miles an hour trying to keep up with the information that she felt was being thrown at her, "Wait!" A sudden thought occurred to her through the mess in her head, "You said the nine strongest bloodlines make up the Council, so you," she turned to point at Connor, "have a family member on the Council as well. What happens when we combine our bloodlines?" she looked back and forth between the witches in front of her, leaving the question open for either of them to answer.

"There are more witches in my family than just me, Ana." He told her with a soft smile. "Our child will take over your position and another of my family members will take over the Mohr seat when the time comes. Niall will be around for a while, I'm sure my sister or my one of my cousins will have a child that can take over by the time he needs to retire."

"It's getting late and we've kept Connor long enough for the day. Why don't you return to your home and we will be in contact?" Caoimhe pulled Ana into a gentle hug, "I promise not to surprise you with something like this again, the way it was handle was completely unnecessary. Some of the other members can be a tad harsh." As she pulled away she gave the young woman a warm smile, "You have done our family proud in the short time you've been a witch and I do not doubt that you will continue to do so. Be brave, keep your wits, and don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it." Turning to look at Connor, she placed a gentle hand on his cheek, "The Mohr line has been a blessing to the Good line for many centuries, though I can tell that you are much more to her than that. Take care of each other and please keep us updated on your findings with the cage." Give one last look to the young couple, the older woman's heart filled with joy, "Now get her home and to bed, this has been quite a bit for her to take in."

Connor nodded, taking Ana's hand in his own. "Thank you. We'll be sure to send any news." he assured the elder witch before he pulled Ana in toward his chest, hoping to comfort her as he teleported the both of them back to the bunker. Once they were in her bedroom he looked toward the clock on her bedside table and noticed that it was just passed six, which meant that Sam would probably be up soon and he needed to let one of the brothers know that they most likely wouldn't be out to help with the search any time soon. "Red?" He questioned, her eyes were focused on the wall behind him, but he knew that her mind was somewhere completely different. When she finally looked up at him, he smiled down at her softly, "Why don't you lay down? I'm going to grab some more comfortable clothes out of my room and then I'll be back, okay?"

She nodded slightly, eyes looking around her room a moment before landing back on him. "We should just move your stuff in here. After being with you in the same bed in the motel room for so many days straight I can't sleep without you next to me."

"We can talk about that later, for now let's just get ready for bed, alright?" He was being extra gentle with her, feeling that if he pushed her too far that she may overload on stress. Watching as she turned away from him and climbed into her bed, he waited a moment before turning to leave her room. On his way down the hall he stopped by Sam's rooming and knocked on the door softly, being able to sense that the man was awake. When the younger Winchester brother answered his door Connor explained the short version of things and asked him to let Dean know so that the two wouldn't be bothered while they were sleeping. Making his way into his room to grab a change of clothes, he made his way quickly back to Ana's room, hoping that she would be asleep by the time he got back. Opening the door he found that his hopes were for nothing because the woman he loved was lying on her back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling and obviously thinking very hard about something. "Don't stress out about this, Red." he told her softly as he closed the door behind him.

She heaved a sigh, "How am I supposed to avoid it? I was prepared for some stuck up, schmuck witches thinking that I needed to be assessed and then I get slammed with the only other living relative I have and the information that I'm supposed to step up to take over her position when she can't do it anymore? A freaking Council position, Connor, that has to be pretty important, right?"

Taking in a deep breath, he began to change into the sweats and he had brought from his room to sleep in. "It is very important, our bloodlines have thrived for generations because of the Council and it's an honor for them to be considering you for the position. Caoimhe did say that you have time before you'd have to take over for her, so there is no reason to worry about it now." Placing his clothes in the laundry hamper, he turned to look at her, seeing that her eyes had moved from the ceiling to focus on his bare chest. "For now we need to worry about the cage, alright?"

Her eyes flicked up to meet his and she slowly nodded, body relaxing slightly. "Are you going to stand there or are you going to come to bed?" she asked, knowing that she wouldn't be able to fall asleep without his comforting presence next to her. Before she met Connor and had learned that they were soulmates, she would have thought herself weak to need him in such a way that in a situation like this he was probably the only thing that could calm her down, but she knew that this was supposed to be how their lives worked. They were stronger together, which was completely fine with her.

"Well I'm not just going to stand here." He answered with a soft smile as he walked over to the bed, letting his body fall on the bed next to her. "I am so exhausted, can we sleep all day?" he asked, with a yawn.

"We've got the devil and an archangel to keep locked up, I don't think we have the time to sleep all day." Ana moved closer to him, smiling softly as he wrapped his arm around her.

Connor groaned, "Fine, I guess the fate of the world does come before sleeping all day." he kissed her cheek and pulled her closer, "Night, Red."

"Good night." The words were a whisper as her eyes fluttered closed, something about meeting a long lost family member and finding out that someday you're going to have to help keep track of the blood witches from the nine most powerful lines in existence made her more exhausted than she had been before. As she slowly fell asleep, her dreams were filled with bright white lights and a familiar face with a dark brown beard.

 **A/N(2): Weird cliffhanger, but I want to know who you think it is Ana saw in her dreams! You'll find out very soon! Let me know your guesses and what you thought of the chapter.**


	45. Chapter 45

**A/N: GUYS! I lied! I'm not going to make this into two separate parts, I'm just going to keep it as the one. I think it will be easier that way and the small amount of feedback I got from the question makes me want to stick to the one piece. So! Who's ready for the rest of the craziness to ensue? Are you ready to find out who visited Ana in her dream? I know I'm really excited for you all to read this chapter so please, let me know what you think! I love getting comments!**

 **eldaearien: Connor and Ana's relationship is one of my favorite things to write. Everything they go through together just makes their bond stronger and I love it! Yay! I'm glad you like the original characters! I was worried that with adding so many of them in some readers would be turned off to how far this is going from the show, but I'm glad you enjoy them! In coming chapters there are going to be quite a few more OCs and I would love to know what you think of them when we get there :) As always, thank you for the review!**

Ana and Connor woke up halfway through the afternoon, one of them feeling refreshed and the other filled with even more questions than there had when they had fallen asleep. The one long dream Ana had through the morning was still vivid in her mind and she knew that though it may have been extremely crazy, it had also been very real. Getting out of bed, Connor left for his room to get a clean set of clothes and shower while Ana just pulled a sweater on over the shirt she had slept in and left her room. There was too much going on in her head and she only had so long to come to a decision on the offer that had been given to her while she was asleep. She was speed walking as she passed the library and she didn't slow down or look to see if anyone was in the room as she continued on her path, set for the relief that would be provided by her destination.

"Well she's on a mission." Dean muttered as the four bodies in the library watched her pass. It hadn't been hard to hear her coming down the hallway, her footfalls heavy as she focused on where she was going instead of how she was getting there.

Sam nodded, "Connor said that whatever happened with the Council was pretty heavy stuff. She's probably trying to handle it all." he guessed, knowing that his brother was the same exact way when it came to certain things.

"She better snap out of it soon. There's still a lot of research left and we'll get through it faster with both of them helping." Kellen spoke up, placing the book he had just finished on the pile of books that had already been looked at and then picking up another one. The three hunters and himself had been working all day, knowing that both witches had been up most of the night handling whatever witch business they were caught up in and though they were going to be doing the research either way, it would have been nice to have two more sets of eyes focused on the books in front of them.

Connor walked in the room in a fresh pair of jeans and a plain black tee shirt, "Ana's not out yet?" he questioned, figuring that she would have beat him to the library since she was already in her room where all of her clothes were.

"She walked down the hall a few minutes ago, looked like she had something on her mind." Kellen answered, absentmindedly flipping through the pages of the new book in his hands. He was growing tired of finding very little on what they needed to know and all of the constant reading was giving him a headache.

"Huh." Connor's brow furrowed as he pulled out a chair and sat down, "She's been acting kind of weird since we woke up." he offered, wondering if what happened with Caoimhe was bothering her. When he reached out through their bond he found that she had completely shut it down on her end, whatever it was that was bothering her, she didn't want him to know.

Sam marked his place in the book in his hands and then set it down, "What happened with the Council thing anyway? All you said this morning that it was a lot and that both of you needed some rest." He had been curious since Connor had left his room that morning and now that they had the chance to talk he wanted answers.

The male witch leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, it was quite a bit to tell and he felt like part of it wasn't his to explain, but Ana also wasn't here to tell everyone. "When I left yesterday I went to meet with the Council to fight against them summoning Ana for some testing."

"Wait," Charlie spoke up, "who's the Council? And why do they want to test Ana?" she glanced around and was happy to see that she wasn't the only one who was confused on this point. It seemed that none of them were really in the know about whatever witch business this was.

"The Council is the leading body of one of the largest covens in the world. The coven is made up of the nine original bloodlines of natural witches, which makes Ana and I both a part of it." Connor rubbed his hands over his face, it seemed like everything was hitting the fan all at once and the stress of it all was just beginning to settle on him. "It's their job to test every new witch born into an original bloodline, I was tested when I was younger, but Ana never has been and because she's had time to learn to control her power they decided it was time to."

Kellen watched Connor as he spoke, wondering what else had happened while the two of them had been gone. It was clear that the witches both had more than some test on their minds. "So did they test her or whatever? I'm assuming that since you're both back that it went well?"

Connor chuckled dryly to himself, in a way that said he clearly found none of this funny, "When we got to the meeting place, Ana stormed up to the Council with such an attitude I was sure that one of them would have attacked purely out of feeling disrespected. They said that the fact that she held such rage toward them and didn't unwillingly unleash some show of power meant that she was in control and that's all they needed to know." he shrugged, "There was another matter that was more important than her testing. If she would have been a threat they would have known before she got there."

"So the test wasn't what they actually wanted her there for?" Sam was intrigued by the Council, though it worried him a little. Witches were something neither he or Dean were fond of. Other than Connor, Ana, and the witches in the coven Connor had been in when they met him, they had little interaction with witches that weren't trying to hurt someone.

Nodding, the male witch wondered how Sam and Dean would take the news he was about the share with them. "There are nine chairs on the Council and nine original bloodlines. At all times there is a person from each bloodline to provide say for their family."

Dean waited for Connor to say more, but when he didn't the elder Winchester threw his hands in the air. "So what? They want Ana to fill the empty place for the Good line?"

"That's the thing." Connor stated, eyes focused on Dean, "It isn't empty. There is a living Good witch on the Council already."

The room sat in silence as they processed what they were being told. "So you're saying that there's another witch from Ana's family. That she has another family member other than us and Heather?" Dean spoke first, wanting to clarify everything before he let his brain get too far ahead of him.

"We read that the last witch in the family had been Ana's great grandmother." Sam pointed out, wondering if they had missed something in the journals the bunker held on the Good line.

Connor nodded, "Before Ana, her great grandmother was the last witch to be born. Caoimhe is the only one left alive other than Ana. She's been holding the Good chair for about four generations, now that Ana has come into her powers they want to know that when the time comes she'll be ready to take over."

"That sounds like a giant responsibility." Charlie commented, "Did Ana say anything about it? If I were in her shoes, I would be freaking out right about now."

"Caoimhe instructed us to focus on the cage first. We've been assured that there won't be need for Ana to take over for a while, so we have time before we need to deal with it." Connor picked up a book and opened, "This on the other hand, needs to be dealt with now. How has it been going while we've been gone?"

The four that had been researching each gave him a subtle look of hopelessness, "Slowly." Sam answered, looking around at the almost empty table. They had made it through nearly all of the books that had been chosen and had found little. "It seems like no one ever expected to be able to open the cage so there isn't much lore or information on it at all."

Connor sighed, he had hoped that they may have had a breakthrough while he and Ana had been gone. "I guess all we can do is keep going and hope we find something. If not, hopefully Cas and Gabe have something for us to go off of soon."

"How long do you think Ana is going to be?" Charlie asked, worried about the young witch. She couldn't imagine handling the amount of stress that was being constantly thrown at Ana and hoped that things would slow down soon so that the girl could get some rest.

Connor shrugged, "I have no idea." he had been honestly surprised to not see her already sitting at the table, reading through the first book she could get her hands on. Something had been clearly bothering her when they woke up and he figured that she would have been there to avoid the problem, but apparently she had plans to deal with whatever it was that was on her mind in a different manner.

-A-

The dream played on repeat in Ana's mind as she wheeled the cart that she had claimed as her own toward the first line up in the shooting range. When all else failed practicing her aim normally made things a little clearer, but then again she wasn't sure if the kind of situation she found herself in could become any clearer. She shoved the first magazine into her pistol and took her aim, sucking in a deep breath before quickly firing the gun until it was empty. Staring at the gun, she found that nothing had changed; she felt no relief, no sudden realization hit her… nothing. What in the Hell was she going to do? Grunting, she slammed the empty pistol down on the small table in front of her and stormed out of the room, ready to talk to someone she really hoped could give her some sort of insight on what to do. Storming down the hallway she didn't slow down until she entered the library, the sound of her footsteps drawing the attention of everyone in the room. "Sorry." she mumbled, looking down at her feet. Ana didn't want to be this strung out on stress, she didn't want to have to face things of this magnitude, but it was all being set at her feet and no one else was going to pick up the job. The life of a true Winchester. Taking in a deep breath, she lifted her head until her green eyes met familiar hazel ones, "Sam, can I talk to you?" The hurt expressions that crossed her father and soul mate's faces didn't go missed by her, but she also knew that this was something she needed to speak with her uncle about.

"Uh, yeah. Of course." Sam stood from the table, "Kitchen?" he questioned, knowing that it would give them enough privacy while at the same time keeping them close enough to everyone else that he could call out for help if he needed it. There was no telling what his niece wanted to discuss with him now. Nodding, Ana pivoted toward the kitchen and followed her uncle's lead out of the room. Once they were in the kitchen, Sam went straight to the fridge and pulled out two bottles of water. Turning, he handed her one and then opened the one in his hand. He took a long drink, waiting patiently for her to say what it was that was bothering her.

Ana stared down at the bottle in her hand as she thoroughly thought through how she was going to word it all without giving too much away, she knew that if Sam was aware of exactly what she was considering doing that he would put an end to it. "What would you do if someone gave you an offer? The kind that could solve two problems at once, save a lot of people, and keep the world safe, but could possibly harm you in the process? There's a one hundred percent survival rate, but that doesn't mean that you come out of the whole ordeal completely unscathed."

"Well it wouldn't be the first time we've been offered something like that." Sam began, trying to see past the vagueness of it so that he could figure out exactly what she was trying to say. "I'm going to assume that this is about the cage, do I even want to know who made you this offer?" When all she did was shake her head, he sighed. If someone offered to help her keep the cage closed, it could possibly be their only chance, but at the same time things like that always came at a cost and he knew that all too well. "I can't tell you what to do, Ana. This is going to be one of those things where you have to decide for yourself, but I can tell you this. Every decision I've made to save people, I don't regret anything I had to go through personally because of that decision. I went to Hell to stop Lucifer, but the apocalypse never happened, that's a win in my book. I almost died trying to close the gates of Hell and if Dean would have let me, I would have gladly given my life to do so."

"I know... That's why I wanted to speak with you." She sighed and slumped against the island between them.

Sam gave her a sad smile, these things were never easy, "It sounds to me that you already know what you're going to do, you just want validation in doing it." he walked around until he was standing next to her. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he gave it a gentle squeeze, "As long as you come back alive and in one piece, I'm not going to keep you from this, but be sure you know who you're dealing with and that they have the best interest in mind. Otherwise I don't think it will turn out so well."

"Oh, trust me, this guy knows all about best interests." Ana muttered as she pushed herself upright. "Alright, looks like I have a deal to make. Thanks for the talk, Sam."

"You're still not going to tell me anything, are you?" He questioned, hoping that she would have divulged a little information for him since he had helped her out.

She shook her head, "Sorry, this is something that you can't know until it's done. I've been given clear instructions. I'm going to go to my room for a bit, will you please keep this between us and let the other's know I'm fine?"

Sam studied her a moment, he knew that she was going to do more than just rest in her room, but he also knew better than to try to stop her. "Yeah, yeah. No problem. If you need anything else, you know where to find me." he gave her a soft smile before leaving the room.

Ana waited until he was gone before taking the other exit and walking quickly toward her room, she didn't want to waste any time in case something caused her to change her mind. Once she was behind her closed door, she spelled it to keep it locked and spun around, taking in the emptiness of it for a moment. This was going to be some mission. "Alright, I'll do it." She spoke into the room and closed her eyes, knowing that he would hear her.

"I knew you would decide to do this." The clear voice spoke just in front of her, "You are just as brave as your father."

Opening her eyes, she focused on the face that had been with her during her dreams that morning. His dark hair and beard were a little unruly which made the soft grey suit he was wearing look a little out of place, but the being standing in front of her held nothing but a soft smile and gentle understanding in his eyes. "You're sure that I will be able to repair the cage _and_ make it stronger?" Ana's heart fluttered with fear of what could go wrong while she was down there.

"With the small addition of what power I can give you, neither of those things should be a problem. It's not going to be easy, Anastasia. You're going to be right next to the cage, in hearing range of their taunts and promises of grandeur if you release them, but you must stay strong against them." He lifted a hand and pulled it down his beard in such a human gesture that Ana wondered if she was being played. "I assure you I am who I told you I was this morning, no need to worry about being lied to. I just fear for the experience you're about to go through. When you return there is no guarantee that you will be the same person you were when you left."

"It would be crazy to think that I would be, but as long as I can fix what I've broken then everything else can be figured out when I get back." Ana studied him a moment, "Look, God-"

He held up a hand, "Please, call me Chuck. I've grown fond of the name." He instructed her with a warm smile.

"Alright, Chuck, can we just get this over with? It's not going to be a pleasant experience and I'd rather rip it off like a band aid than draw it out." Going to Hell was nothing she ever wanted to experience and the mess that was going to be left here on Earth while she was gone was something she really didn't want to have to think about.

"Of course. Be wise, don't listen to a word that my sons say." Chuck instructed her before snapping his fingers. He watched as her eyes rolled into the back of her head with a sigh. Stepping forward, he eased her limp body onto the floor of her bedroom and then stood up to look at the still girl at his feet. "They are going to kill me for this." he told himself before disappearing from the room.

-A-

It had been a few hours since Sam had come back from the kitchen when Dean had finally had enough. His little brother kept saying that Ana went to think about some things in her room, refusing to tell any of them what they talked about. Dropping his book on the stack in front of him, he shoved the chair he was sitting in away from the table. "That's it, if you're not going to tell me whatever it is that's going on with my daughter I'll just go get it out of her." he snapped at his brother before storming out of the room and down the hall. When he reached her bedroom door, he banged on it loudly with his fist, "Ana! Open up!" he banged a couple more times. When there was no answer he tried the doorknob and found it unlocked, but the door wouldn't budge. "Damn witches and their freaking magic." he muttered as he stormed back toward the library, pausing just inside of the room. "Connor, she's done some witch mumbo-jumbo to the door and won't answer me. Go unlock it." he ordered.

Connor looked at Dean, an argument on the tip of his tongue, but the look on the older man's face told him that it would be best he didn't. "Fine, but when she gets pissed because you had me reverse her spell don't think I won't throw you under the bus." he stated before standing up and walking past the man. When he reached Ana's door he raised a hand to get a reading on the spell she used and scoffed, she hadn't used a very powerful one so she must not have really cared if he could get in or not. Glancing over his shoulder at Dean, he quirked an eyebrow before waving his hand in front of the door and stepping to the side, "There, shouldn't be a problem now."

Dean grumbled and reached for the doorknob, twisting it and finding that it was easy to push open. Stepping into the room he had expected to find his daughter sitting on her bed or at her desk, but the room was vacant. "Well, where the Hell is she?" he spun around and fixed a glare at Connor. "Shouldn't you have know if she left?"

"Honestly, I wasn't paying much attention. She's a grown woman, Dean, and just because we're soul mates doesn't mean I'm going to keep her on a leash." Connor crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged, "She's probably just out getting some fresh air."

"Well go find her!" He demanded, there was a sinking feeling in his stomach, the weird sixth sense he had when it came to his family and their stupid decisions. "Look, I don't feel right about this. She's talking to Sam about something, but won't tell either of us then she magically locks her door from the inside, but isn't here. Doesn't that seem a little weird to you?"

Connor nodded, "Of course it does, but maybe she just doesn't want to talk to any of us." He didn't want to jump to the conclusion that something was wrong, he wanted to be able to believe that she just needed some space and time to process through whatever was going on, _but_ she had been acting really strange when they woke up. "Let's go talk to Sam." he offered and once the words were out of his mouth Dean was moving around him to get out of the bedroom.

The moment he was in the library, Dean stopped in his tracks and set his gaze on his brother. "She's not in her room and I have a crazy feeling that something isn't right. What did the two of you talk about in the kitchen?"

Sam looked up from his book, a worried expression settling in on his face. He sighed, "All she told me was that someone had made her an offer on helping to keep the cage closed." As he thought about it he really hoped that she hadn't gone and done something stupid.

"What?! Who?!" Dean demanded, face scrunching up in worry. "So she just gets an offer from some random person to keep the cage on lockdown, but doesn't say anything about it to us?"

"Ana told me that she couldn't tell any of us. Whoever it was promised that whatever she had to do, she'd live through it." Sam shrugged, "I figured that we'd at least get a heads up before she went and agreed to do it."

Dean threw his hands in the air, "Yes, because our family is known for sharing it's plans before we act on them. We don't even know who she was working with Sam! Or what it is she has to do to keep the cage shut!" Spinning around to look at Connor, he fought the urge to yell at him too, "Can you get a read on her?"

Connor closed his eyes and focused on their bond, trying to push through the block that she had put up between them, but it was holding strong. "I can't reach her mentally, but I'll start a tracking spell. I don't like that she's still keeping us separated like this." he mumbled as he turned and left the room.

Turning his gaze back to his brother, Dean frowned, "I swear, Sam, if she gets hurt on whatever mission this is… I'm going to rip you a new one for keeping this from me!" He watched as Sam ignored him and pulled out his phone, "What are you doing?" he snapped.

"Tracking her phone, Dean." Sam answered, sounding exasperated. "Ana always has it on her and she knows to leave the GPS on so we can find her in case she gets in some trouble." he pointed out, pulling up the location app they frequently used and smiled when the map moved to the phone's location. "Look, this says she's in town, so at least she didn't go far."

"Where in town?" Dean demanded, crossing the room quickly so that he could look at the map as well. Sam held up the phone so that he could see the screen and when he was able to read the streets, his face went from worried and angered to confused. "She's in a bar?"

Connor walked into the room and raised an eyebrow, "A bar?" he questioned, hands full of spells supplies, but he quickly set them down on the table next to a stunned Charlie. "What in the Hell is she doing at a bar? She barely even drinks."

Dean shrugged, "No clue, but I'm going to find out." Turning his focus away from the phone, he finally seemed to notice that both Charlie and Kellen were sitting at the table, baring witness to the family drama. His face dropped, "Sorry." he mumbled to them before dropping his eyes and turning to head toward the garage.

"Dean! Hold up, I'm coming with." Sam called after him as he stood and slipped his phone back into his pocket.

"We're coming too!" Charlie spoke up as she stood, rolling her eyes at the confused look Sam sent her way. "What? You guys are my family and if she's in some sort of trouble, we could help." She gestured between herself and Kellen, "Plus, I could really use a break from the research and I know what kind of scuzzy monsters and demons like to hang out in bars."

Kellen stood up and looked between the three people that were still in the room, "Do you really think she's in some sort of trouble?" He honestly couldn't see Ana getting into something she couldn't handle. He didn't know much about being a witch, but he knew that she could handle herself.

Connor shrugged, "There's really no telling until we get there. Come on, if we make Dean wait too long he'll leave without all of us." Taking the lead he exited the library and walked quickly down the hallway until they reached the garage where Dean sat in the already running Impala.

"Really, we're all going?" He questioned as he lowered his window, watching as the group of four headed his way.

"Yep, never know what kind of trouble she's gotten herself into." Charlie told him with a tight smile, "Plus, if there is no trouble, I could go for a change of scenery and a drink."

-A-

Walking into the bar none of them were sure what to expect, but they sure as hell weren't expecting to see the redheaded witch laying on the bar and giggling as a large man took a shot from her belly button. "She's drunk." Kellen concluded, knowing there was no way that his friend would ever let someone do something like that with her body without being completely trashed.

Connor's expression turned to stone as he watched the stranger lay his hands on Ana's hips in a way that he was sure wouldn't have been welcomed by her if she had been in her right mind.

The Winchester's snapped their head in his direction, both seeing the clenched jaw and the glaring eyes. "Charlie, go grab her while we make sure he doesn't kill anyone." Dean instructed, worried that the witch would go postal after seeing some man touching his soul mate like that.

Nodding Charlie grabbed onto the sleeve of Kellen's shirt and dragged him with, "Hey, Little Red, seems like you're having a good time." she broached the subject gently, waiting for the man to move aside so that she could help the girl off of the bar. "Did you have a little to drink?" she questioned, also noticing that the sweats and hoodie she had been wearing earlier had been traded out for low riding jeans and a tight black tank top.

"Charlie!" Ana grinned as she sat up, her eyes moving to Kellen and filling with a look that could only be classified as desire. "You are correct, I'm having great time. The men in this place are very nice. Though I can assure you that I'm not the one that has been drinking." She slid off of the bar with ease and grace, showing just how sober she actually was.

"There is no way that you're hanging out in this place and letting guys take body shots off of you without being trashed, Ana." Kellen pointed out, waiting for her bluff to falter so that he could gauge just how drunk she was.

Tilting her head to the side slightly, Ana took a step toward him and placed a hand on his chest, "Oh, Kellen, I could show you just how sober I am if you'd give me the chance." she spoke softly, her eyes flicking up to meet his.

Kellen instantly backed away from her, slightly grossed out and completely confused. Ana had always been a sister to him and he knew that she had never held anything other than purely platonic feelings for him, so why in the Hell was she hitting on him? "We need to get her out of here." he told Charlie. Not waiting for the woman to answer, he bent down and picked Ana up over his shoulder. "We're getting out of here!" He called to Dean, Sam, and Connor as he headed their way.

Ana's eye level was perfectly aligned with Kellen's muscled backside and the way the jeans tightened as he waked made her grin, "You have an amazing ass." she said loud enough for him to hear before she slapped it.

"Woah!" Kellen jumped and almost dropped her, stopping the moment he was standing in front of Connor. "Dude, you need to restrain her or something. I don't know what's wrong with her, she says she's sober, but she isn't acting like herself at all."

"Let's get this outside before we draw even more attention to ourselves." Sam instructed, herding everyone out the door and into the cool night air. Once the group was standing by the Impala and Ana was standing in the middle of them, he took in the sight of what she was wearing. He slipped off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders, knowing that she had to be cold.

Ana turned and looked at Sam, a sly smile across her lips, "Thanks, but no thanks, Sammy." she told him, taking the jacket off and handing it to him. "I'm not cold."

Dean raised an eyebrow at his daughter, "So you are drunk."

"How many times do I have to say it? I'm not drunk." She told them, wondering what they all thought they were going to do by surrounding her the way they were. Did they not know that she could easily teleport away from all of them. "So, what's this little meeting about?"

Sam shook his head, "If you're not drunk, then you must be cold. You're barely wearing a shirt, Ana." he pointed out, offering his jacket to her again.

The redheaded girl rolled her eyes, "I can't feel anything. I'm fine, can we get along with why you guys ruined my good time?" She ran a hand through her hair and waited for one of them to answer her, but when know one did she looked around, her eyes landing on the look that Sam and Dean were sharing. "What?"

"You can't feel anything?" Sam questioned, eyebrows furrowed in what was either deep thought or concern, Ana couldn't really tell.

"Not a damn thing." Ana waited for them to say something else, but when no one did she shrugged. "Alright guys, well that was a good talk. If you don't mind I'm going to head back inside. See ya around." She pushed her way through the group and began to walk back toward the entrance to the bar.

Just before she reached the door Connor teleported in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. "Sorry about this, Red." he spoke softly, not wasting any time as he lifted his hand and placing it above her heart. With a quick spell he was able to confine her magic and knock her out, catching her before she hit the ground.

 **A/N(2): Hey guys, kind of short chapter. Shorter than I wanted, but I didn't want to get any further. Any guesses on what had to happen for Ana to be able to close the gate? What do you guys think about God's appearance? Let me know!**


	46. Chapter 46

**A/N: Hey guys! So this is just going to be a quick note. I'm going to leave a longer one at the end, but I wanted to give you all a heads up. There is some text in this chapter that is in italics, set in the middle of the page. Those are song lyrics that gave me inspiration for this chapter and this part of the plot. :) Enjoy**

 _God took my soul. Left it at the Devil's door._

 _And now I can't get it back!_

 _-The Devil's Door by Pet the Preacher_

"What do you mean her soul is missing?!" Dean demanded, looking back and forth between the two angels and his daughter who was sitting in a chair that had been pulled away from the table, expression completely uninterested. Shortly after Connor had done his magic thing to Ana in front of the bar, he had teleported her back to the bunker and the others piled back into the Impala so that Dean could speed them back to the bunker. They weren't entirely sure what to expect from the young witch and Dean didn't want her to leave his sight until they had everything figured out. When they arrived Connor had sat Ana in a chair and though she was still unconscious he bound her wrists in a set of iron shackles. If Dean was thankful for one thing in that moment, it was that even though she was a powerful witch, that the iron still bound her powers. Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to the angels, "She's never even gone to Hell! How could it be gone?!"

Castiel sighed, "God." he answered, taking a moment to watch Ana before looking back at Dean. The moment the brothers had received the call that something was wrong with Ana they arrived as quickly as possible, Gabriel fearing that whatever it was that hallened had been something he could have prevented. When Sam and Dean explained their theory, Castiel had checked to verify their concerns and neither he nor anyone in the room were happy with his findings.

"God?" Dean questioned, brow furrowed and jaw clenched, "What do you mean God?!" He had gone from ready to form a plan to get his daughter's soul back to completely freaking out and no one was entirely sure how to handle the eldest Winchester as he paced back and forth behind the chair that Ana was sitting in. She had been awake since Cas had shoved his arm elbow deep into her chest and she hadn't said a word.

Gabriel stepped up from his place against the wall, "Apparently Father has a job for her, but instead of forcing the whole of your daughter into Hell, he just took her soul from her body and sent that." The moment he had confirmation from Cas that Ana was indeed soulless, the archangel had flown away, searching for answers. He hadn't gotten far when Father had appeared to him, giving him the shortest explanation he could before disappearing again.

Dean threw his arm out toward his brother, "Because separating the soul from the body does so much for the person left soulless!" His mind was running a million miles an hour. Flashbacks to dealing with Sam soulless, everything he had to go through to get Sam's soul back, and how hard it had been to watch the wall in his brother's head slowly crack all filled him with anxiety. He wasn't sure he could go through the same thing with Ana, thankfully he wasn't alone.

Sam winced at Dean's words, but chose to ignore them, "I thought God was M.I.A.? Why all of the sudden does He need Ana to do something in Hell?" He was trying hard to not overreact. Yes, they were in a bad situation. No, it was not one he liked, but if God had a reason Sam had to assume that it was a good one.

"Dad didn't give me any details. Just that when she was done doing whatever it is she's up to, that he'll make sure her soul is returned to her body." Gabe explained, moving to stand next to Ana. She didn't turn to look at him as he stopped at her side and he only hoped that this would be over quickly.

Castiel's eyes were focused on the youngest Winchester as well, remembering Sam's days soulless just as Dean was. "She will need to be watched while her soul remains missing."

"No freaking kidding! I've babysat a soulless Winchester before." Dean snarled, "Why did it have to be her though? Did God just snatch up her soul and drop it at some random location without even broaching the subject with anyone?!"

Ana had been silent through the argument, having a staring contest with Connor who sat a few feet in front of her in a chair near the table. When she had woken up to find that she had been placed in a chair, near the center of the room, and shackled in iron she had been far from pleased. "He didn't just take it." she finally spoke, her eyes never leaving Connor's.

"What?" Dean and Sam asked at the same time, each moving to stand in front of her, but not in the way of Connor's line of sight. Neither wanted to chance her somehow getting free and for some reason that possibility was contingent on the witches being able to see each other.

"You really think God would give us all free will and then take it away the moment he needed something?" Ana glanced up at her father, eyebrows pulled up in question, "No, of course not, because though God may not be everything He's made out to be, the man is definitely not that cruel. He asked me and I agreed."

Sam's expression quickly turned from worry to shock. "That's what you were talking about. When you wanted to know what I would do if I were in the same situation, you were asking about God asking to take your soul from your body."

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner." She muttered, giving Sam a tight smile before turning her attention to the shackles around her wrists. If she weren't freaking bound by iron, she would have teleported out of the room by now. "Also, it's in Hell. The Winchester family favorite vacationing spot."

Connor watched the woman he loved speak in a way that was familiar yet completely foreign to him, "God asked to take your soul from your body, to put it in _Hell,_ and you agreed? Why, Anastasia?" he didn't raise his voice or act as if any of this was upsetting him, though it was. His emotions were raging on the inside and though he knew their connection was still in place, it seemed to be void with the lack of Ana's soul.

Ana sighed dramatically and stood up from her chair, glad that they had still given her the ability to move around freely. "Well, when the big guy upstairs tells you that though you 'did the only thing that could be done' but 'your actions have caused a crack in the cage and if it isn't repaired, my sons will be set free', you kind of agree to go to Hell and fix the problem."

Dean glanced at Connor before turning his attention back to his daughter, "What actions? Stop speaking in damn riddles, Ana, and just tell us what the Hell is going on!" He really wasn't in the mood to waste time on this.

"Wait, this has something to do with the devil's gate in Calvary Cemetery, doesn't it?" Sam questioned. That had been over a month ago, why would God just now be telling them about a problem if there were one, but it was the only thing that made sense to him.

"Someone get the man a prize, Samuel Winchester is the star pupil of the class." Ana replied sarcastically, "Yes, this has everything to do with that damn devil's gate. See, when we destroyed it we effectively erased the problem from this side, but apparently we created a bigger problem on the other end. What started out as a simple little crack in the cage, made from our 'explosion', soon began to grow with the help of the two lovely beings locked inside. They've been picking at it and it's just a matter of time before they break the damn thing and get out." Walking down the bookshelf lined walls, she swung her legs around in wide, half circles as she walked and told her story, stopping at the end to spin and look at the group before her, "I couldn't very well let the exact thing we were fighting against happen, so I agreed to drop down into Hell and fix the problem. Apparently when not confined by the limitations of my body, my soul bares a lot more power than we thought, plus the big guy is giving me a little extra boost so I can get it done right."

Dean took three long strides toward her until he was directly in front of his daughter and looking down at her, "If it's such a problem, why couldn't He go down there and fix it himself?"

Ana frowned at him, "Dean, it's God. Not like he can just waltz into Hell, straight up to the cage and fix it without being noticed." Sometimes she wondered how well his brain worked if he couldn't figure simple things like that out.

"Dean?" he questioned his own name, the full force of what had happened to his daughter hitting him in the gut.

Ana nodded, "That is your name, isn't it?" The eldest Winchester turned away from the body that used to house the person that was his daughter and stalked out of the room. "Did I say something wrong?" she asked the remaining people in the room.

Sam sighed, "You haven't called him by his name in close to two years, Ana." he explained, hating that his brother was having to deal with another soulless family member. The look on Dean's face as he had walked away had been enough to break Sam as well.

"Right… dad." Ana shrugged, "Oh well, guess he's just going to have to get used to his name for a while." Turning to look at the room, her eyes met everyone's as she held out her hands. "So who wants to uncuff me? These things are really annoying."

"Am I the only one who is completely against taking those cuffs off?" Charlie spoke up for the first time since the group had returned to the bunker. She and Kellen had kept to themselves, watching everything unfold and not having a clue what to do.

Ana walked toward Charlie with a sly smile on her lips, "Come on, Char, don't you think things would be a lot more fun if I weren't all bound up?" she wiggled her eyebrows at the older redhead in a very Gabriel-like fashion. "Or maybe you prefer me tied up?" The shocked expression that crossed Charlie's face was exactly what she had been aiming for and she turned away from the girl with a soft chuckle. "Seriously, either someone is going to let me out of these things or I'm just going to pick the lock."

Silence ensued as everyone in the room exchanged a look, all eyes slowly making their way back to her. "We cannot risk what you may do with control over your powers." Castiel finally spoke up, knowing that the possibilities of what the young witch could do could turn out to be disastrous.

"Really? I just want to go out and have a good time. It's not like I'm going to decide to rob a bank or go on a killing spree. I'm soulless, not stupid." She pointed out to all of them. Honestly, she just really couldn't stand having her powers being useless and the fact that everyone in the room was so damn boring. If she spent more time with them than absolutely necessary, which wasn't necessary at all, she was sure that blood would start coming from her eyes as she was bored to death.

"You're not going anywhere, Ana." Gabriel moved over to her, placing his hands around the shackles and erasing the key hole so that it was impossible for her to pick the lock and get free. "Looks like you're just going to have to sit back and relax until your soul is reunited with your body."

Ana glared at the cuffs and then slowly raised her eyes to Gabriel's before taking a swing at him. The archangel easily blocked her, using his strength to hold her hands down so that she couldn't try the move a second time. "Screw you, Gabriel." she growled through gritted teeth.

"Real original." He countered before raising his fingers to her forehead and knocking her out.

Catching Ana before she hit the ground, he moved her back into the chair that she had been sitting in before. "Well, this is going to be fun." he commented as he looked over his shoulder at the others in the room.

 _I sold my soul to a three-piece and he told me that I was holy._

 _He's got me down on both knees, but it's the Devil that's trying to hold me down._

 _-Hold Me Down by Halsey_

The appearance of the part of Hell that Ana had been sent to was something she wasn't expecting. Though it was clear that Hell was exactly where she was by the heavy scent of sulfur and the screams filling the air in the distance, it looked almost normal. High, brick walls with torches mounted toward the top lined her way and as she continued along the path to what she could only assume was the cage, she wondered how her family was handling the news up on Earth. They had to have found out by now that something was different about her, that is if she was even awake or around any of them. There was no doubt in her mind that she would be getting a very long lecture when she returned, possibly by everyone in the bunker. She shook her head, she couldn't think about any of that now, there was too much to lose for her to be distracted. God… Chuck, she had to remember that he prefered to be called Chuck, he had said that she would know where to go. Not entirely sure how that worked, she continued to follow the walkway, hoping that she would find the cage soon so that she could get out of there as soon as possible.

It was a strange feeling, her soul being out of her body. Ana imagined that it was similar to what being a ghost felt like, they were basically they same thing, weren't they? No, her body wasn't dead, Chuck had assured her it would be very similar to what happened to Sam. Her body would continue living day to day life, though she could only guess how much different she would act because of the situation. Sam had been kind of scary without a soul and she was incredibly thankful that the only way she had seen him like that was through a vision. While her body was up on Earth, her not quite corporeal soul continued down the path toward the cage.

Ana was doing her best to mentally prepared herself for the task to come. The magic of the cage was strong, it had to be to hold both Lucifer and Michael, but that meant her job was going to be difficult. Not only would both beings in the cage most likely try to bribe her to let them out or threaten her with her worst fears if she denied them, but she would also be working with very unstable magic. The crack in the cage itself was physical, but there was also an unseen crack in the magic that rendered the beings inside powerless and fixing that was going to be the real challenge. Chuck had assured her that with the small amount of added power he was able to lend to her that it wouldn't be a problem, though no neither of them knew for sure what would happen. He had created the cage long ago and completely by himself, having a witch do the repair work could have some unexpected consequences.

None of that worried her as she come up to the end of the walkway where a tall, thick wooden door stood separating Ana and whatever lay beyond. Taking in a deep breath, which part of her realized was unneeded, she closed the distance between herself and the door, raising up on her tiptoes to peek through the small square hole near the top. The sight that her eyes landed on was nothing new, she had seen the cage in a handful of visions, but that didn't make actually seeing it any easier. She was sure that if she actually needed the oxygen, she would have been hyperventilating, but as it were souls didn't need to breathe and so she was just stuck there in sheer panic at the thought of getting any closer to the cage and the two men held within it. The large box shape structure was held high above any ground by long thick chains that didn't seem to hook on to anything. Ana could only assume that the space itself was some sort of room, but she knew little of Hell and had close to no idea what was beyond the door other than the cage and the chains that held kept it centered. Not taking her eyes off of the object behind the door, she reached down her hand toward the large lock that set near the looped handle. Chuck had warned her that it would be protected by magic and wards, but he was certain that their combined powers would easily unlock it. He had been the one to create the whole thing so the young witch had faith that he would know best. Focusing her power, she forced it out toward the lock, making sure to unlock it and not break it; she would need to replace the lock once she left.

Access to the cage was just a door away, pulling up on the loop that controlled the latch would leave the door free to open and Ana would visible to the beings held within the cage for the first time. Stealing herself, she pushed away any thoughts of failure though they came in persistent hords, willing to break her strength and scare her away from the task at hand. The redheaded witch knew that this was their only hope at repairing the damage that she and Connor had caused while destroying the devil's gate. She opened the door slowly, trying her best to keep her mind off of the words she was no doubt about to hear from both brothers. Thankful that while her soul was apart from her body she didn't really need anything to stand on she willed herself forward, into the void that surrounded the cage, and set her focus on the spell she would use first to physically repair the cage.

Ana had almost reached the cage when she heard the voice, "Do you smell that, brother? Smells like witch." the first voice spoke, tone deep and slightly intrigued, as if the person in control of said voice had been extremely bored.

"And Winchester." The second grumbled, sounding younger than the first. "I should know, I'm constantly surrounded by the stench." There was the sound of movement and then there were two sets of eyes looking out of the small gaps in between the thick lines of metal that made up the entire cage.

"Rescue mission?" Lucifer inquired, watching the female soul close the distance to the cage. They both watched as she ignored them, eyes focused on the cage itself as she began to chant. "Oh, oh, oh!" the Devil laughed as he realized what was going on. "Looks like we're being locked back down, brother. The Winchester witch has come to save the day! By the way," he spoke to the female outside of the cage, "would you mind explaining to us how that happened. One of the Winchester's fronecating with a witch? I can only imagine that's a great story."

Ana didn't respond, her eyes stayed focused on the cracks in the metal of the cage, putting more force behind her words as she continued to chant. The spell she was using was a combination of a mending spell that she and Connor had used many times before paired with one that Chuck had assured her would assure that the inhumanly strong metal wouldn't crack again.

Lucifer sighed dramatically, "You know, for being so young, this shouldn't be something you have to do. You've got to be what? Late teens? Twenty tops? That's really far too young to be venturing in Hell to fix broken things." There was a pause in which the two brothers in the cage shared a look that was missed by Ana, "No, a powerful witch like you should be out enjoying the world and all it has to offer. I can feel your magic as you work, you could have almost anything you wanted, and yet you're here... in the deepest part of Hell, fixing the damage on an old cage. What do you say you call it quits where you're at, head back up top, and when the two of us get topside we'll spare you?"

Ana's eyes flicked up at that, meeting Lucifer's vessel. In that moment, she wondered why either being had kept themselves inside their vessels, maybe they had grown attached or maybe they were stuck. She raised an eyebrow at the Devil, still chanting the spell as she fought back a small laugh at Lucifer's words. Of course that would be his first try at stopping her, sparing her life, making it seem as if they were going to get free and the moment they did that death would overtake the world. Shaking her head slightly, she looked back down to the blemish she was fixing on the cage's wall, there was little change and she knew that it was going to be a slow process. Chuck had warned her that it would take some time and that being added to the fact that time in Hell went by faster, Ana wasn't certain that she would be able to ignore their words the entire time.

-A-

It had been just over an hour that Connor had taken Ana from the chair she had been placed in after Gabriel knocked her unconscious to her room and everyone else had just sat in the library, lost in thought. There was nothing left to do now that it was up to Ana to fix the cage and if they were understanding everything right, she would put an end to any plan that could be used to released Michael and Lucifer as well. The group had been pretty quiet when Charlie suddenly stood up from the chair she had been standing in, "I'm going to talk to Dean." she announced and left the room before anyone could say anything against her plan. Both Winchester brothers had been among the closest friends she had ever had and though she had absolutely no idea what it was like to be a parent, she couldn't leave the older man to deal with what he was going through alone. She loved Ana as much as everyone else did, okay… maybe not as much as Connor or Dean, but they were all family and they were all worried, though none of them had been slapped with the loss of Ana's soul like Dean had been. Making her way down the hall, she stopped in front of Dean's room, wondering if the man was in there or if he had let the bunker completely, which was something she had considered before storming out of the library. Raising her hand, she tapped lightly at his door and hoped that she would receive an answer.

"Go away, Sam." Dean's muffled voice called through the door. The man had been in his room, sitting on his bed and staring at the wall across from him. For the first time in a very long time he had no idea what he should do with himself. His daughter's soul was in Hell, her body left here to roam around and hurt anyone without remorse, and he had no idea what to do with that fact.

Charlie sighed, "Dean? It's me. Can I come in?" she questioned, already reaching for the doorknob as she didn't really care what his answer was.

Dean's attention turned toward the door, he hadn't been expecting anyone but Sam to come and try to comfort him after what had happened in the library, but if it were going to be anyone else of course it would be Charlie. Contemplating whether or not to let her in, he knew that she wouldn't go away, she was persistent in a way that reminded him of a younger sibling. "Yeah." He finally called back, knowing that he wouldn't have been able to keep Sam out either if it had been his brother.

"Good," the redheaded hunter spoke as she opened the door, "because I wasn't going to give you much of a choice anyway." She gave him a gentle smile as she walked over to his bed and sat next to him. "Gabriel knocked her out, she tried to hit him with her chained up hands because we wouldn't let her go."

The news made him groan and rest his face in his hands, of course this was happening. Ana couldn't even try to act normal like Sam had in the beginning of being brought back, no, she had to take a swing at her favorite archangel. "I can't believe she didn't talk to me about this before she just let God yank her soul from her body.

Charlie rested a hand on his shoulder, "Come on, Dean, you're her father. Of course she did this without really talking to anyone about it." she sighed, knowing that her statement wasn't making it any easier for him. "On the same point, she's your daughter, a Winchester. You guys are notorious for doing whatever to takes to keep people safe, especially if it's because of something you caused. Think about everything you and Sam went through to stop the apocalypse. At least God gave his word that she would come out of this alive."

"God." Dean scoffed, standing suddenly and turning to look at Charlie, "I still don't understand why He didn't do this Himself. He created the damn cage and, sure, Ana was part of the reason it was breaking, but why send a witch to do something He could have done himself."

"Because," a different voice spoke directly behind Dean, causing both hunters to jump and move so that they could see the new person in the room, "this is something Ana needs to do." Chuck informed them both, watching the expression of Dean's face go from shock to confusion.

Dean gaped at the prophet in front of him. It had been so long since they had heard from or seen Chuck that the brothers had just came to the conclusion that the man had somehow died. "Chuck?" he questioned, confused to how the man in front of him had come into his room without either he or Charlie noticing.

The bearded man nodded and gave the hunter a warm smile, "Hi Dean." he greeted, pushing his suit jacket aside to tuck his hands in the pockets of his pants, "As I was saying, this is something Ana has to do. Her experience in Hell will not only strengthen her power, but it was also make her a stronger person."

"How do you know that? Did you have one of your prophet visions or something?" Dean questioned, trying to process Chuck being completely fine and the information that the man was giving him.

"No." Chuck shook his head, taking in a deep breath, "I-" he was about to speak but the door to Dean's room flew open, both Cas and Gabe charging in with Sam and Kellen on their heels.

Dean frowned, wondering why they were acting like a bunch of idiots when Castiel took a step back, eyes fixed on Chuck. "Father?" the angel questioned, being able to feel that his assumption was fact, but he hadn't imagined that his father would look anything like the prophet Chuck.

"What the hell, Dad? So you disappear when I'm looking for answers about why you took Ana's soul and what she's doing in Hell, but you'll come running for a Winchester?" Gabriel snapped.

With a furrowed brow, Dean crossed his hands over his chest, "What are you guys talking about? Chuck isn't God." he pointed out. Both angels must have been severely confused to think that Chuck Shurley was the guy that created everything.

Gabriel rolled his eyes, "Dean, I think I would know my Father when I see him. Even more so since it was just a few hours ago that I saw him." his tone was full of snark. Turning his attention back to Chuck, "Seriously, what happened to 'you'll know when the time is right'?"

"Gabriel, I love you, you know this, but sometimes I think your attitude needs some adjusting." Chuck commented as he pinched the ridge of his nose, "You and I both know that I don't always stick to my word, even more so when it comes to this family. Dean assumed I was somehow being lazy and cruel, I wanted to answer his questions. If you keep your mouth closed, maybe I'll answer yours as well." He gave his son a pointed look, slowly turning his attention to Castiel who was staring at him in awe. "I promise once I'm done speaking with the Winchesters that I will answer all of your questions." With a warm smile, he turned his attention back to Dean.

"Wha- What?!" Dean all but screamed, "You can't be God, you're Chuck!" He informed the man, at a complete loss for what was going on in his room. "And why are we doing this in my room? Seriously?!"

Sam brushed a hand through his hair as he stared at Chuck… God… whoever he was. Shaking his head, he finally spoke up, "Alright, why don't we move this into the library? It'll be a lot more comfortable and then Dean can stop freaking out about all of us being in his room." he offered, being the first to leave the room and head toward the library. He was glad to see once he arrived that everyone had followed his offer and they were all now standing in the much larger room. "Alright, I… I guess there are somethings that the rest of us need to be filled in on?" he questioned, his eyes slowly moving back and forth between Gabriel and God.

"I suppose you're right there, Samsquatch. Allow me to make the introductions." Gabriel began, making a grand gesture with his arms, "Sam, Dean, you've met Chuck a.k.a God a.k.a our Father." he wiggled a finger between himself and Cas. "Pops, these are all of my friends."

Chuck frowned at his son, "I am quite aware of who everyone is, Gabriel." he stated, holding his son's eyes for a moment before turning his attention back to those in the room. "As I was trying to tell Dean before we were interrupted," he let his eyes circle around those in the room before landing on Gabe again, fixing him with a chastising stare, "I know that none of you are happy with the fact that Ana's soul and body are separated, but she needed to do this for the future to play out the way it's meant to. Some things are meant to be and there are a handful of things that rely on Ana becoming the person she will after she returns from Hell."

"And what are we supposed to do with her soulless body in the meantime?" Connor questioned, he had just heard them speaking in the hallway and waited until that moment before coming around the corner completely.

Chuck turned around so that he could see Connor, taking a moment to assess how the male witch was reacting to his soulmate missing. The worst thing about all of this playing out was the part of Ana that was meant to be with Connor, the entirety of that was gone, the only thing left being the shell that housed his other half. "Keep an eye on her, make sure she doesn't accidentally get herself killed or in more trouble than she can handle. Though it may be the easiest solution, you cannot keep her unconscious for the entire time that her soul is gone."

"Why the hell not?!" Dean demanded, now fuming with the fact that not only was his daughter's soul missing, but that he had met God before and the bastard didn't have the decency to tell them anything, even if it was just that Chuck wasn't dead.

"She has to be awake to reunite with her soul." Chuck explained, "I gave her soul enough of my help to make sure she lived through her time in Hell, but she has to find her way back to her body on her own."

Everyone's jaws dropped, eyes going wide, "You're not even going to put her soul back in?!" Dean demanded, taking large steps across the room, ready to put God or Chuck or whoever the Hell he was through a damn wall. Before Dean could reach him, the man disappeared from the room, causing the eldest Winchester to growl similar to a feral animal, "Get back here you spineless bastard!" Silence followed and if Dean's anger could have had a physical affect on the room, the whole place would be on fire.

 **A/N: Boom! Another chapter down. I know it's kind of slow, but there's going to be a lot of stuff going on in the next chapter or so and this is the lead up to it. I would love to know what you're thinking as always :) Thanks for reading.**

 **.37: Yes she did! What do you think of soulless Ana so far?**

 **eldaearien: More Chuck! The complications are only getting started for the Winchesters and their extended family, there's a lot more to come. Yay! I'm glad that you love the way I'm taking this story toward a more original plot, just fitting it into the Supernatural world. Thank you so much for your lovely review :)**

 **DracoPotter80: 'Well shiiiittttt' is putting it lightly. Things are going to go down next chapter! It's going to be good ;)**


	47. Chapter 47

**A/N: Guys, writing soulless Ana has got to be one of the funnest things to do. Lucifer is definitely high up there, he's such a blast to write, but soulless Ana tops him just a little. Seriously, I think this is the most entertained I've been with my own writing ever. It's great, just be prepared for that. Hello to recent follows and favorites, I don't put these in here often, but I promise that I am so appreciative to every single one of you! Who's ready for some soulless fun?! I love getting your reviews, please keep letting me know what you think and how you're liking it! Enjoy :)**

 **TheHungryRainbow: YES! I LOVE Halsey so much! I literally giggled the entire time I read the last half of your comment. Dean gets even less pleased in following chapters, Chuck is in for a rough time with that one. Thanks so much for the review :)**

 **JediCat1965: I thought so too! I'm glad you found the humor in it :)**

 **LaMB-COW: Thank you so much for the review! I'm glad that you are enjoying it so far, I would love to know what you think as you continue to read it. Also, thank you for the compliment on my writing, I try very hard to make it fluid and descriptive to paint a picture for the reader. :) Thanks again.**

 ***** Quick warning that there is a bit more swearing in this chapter than there has been in previous ones*****

Soon after Lucifer had offered to spare Ana's life when he and his brother broke free, Michael decided to take up a different tactic. He knew these Winchesters, the stubborn and thick skulled ones specifically and in this case the apple didn't fall far from the tree with Dean and Ana. At first, he hadn't been sure that she was Dean's and not Sam's, but he could see it in her face and in the color of her eyes, the girl was Dean's daughter through and through. The archangel watched her carefully, taking his time to decipher what he could about her just by looking at her soul and listening to her chant without breaking. She had been at work for days already and the part of the cage she was repairing was barely halfway to being complete again. Lucifer had pushed himself away from the side she was on shortly after she had ignored him, irritated that yet another Winchester was here to ruin another of his plans, but Michael was taking his sweet time. The time he had spent in the cage with his brother had given him a little more patience and if he was ever going to get out of that damn cage so that he could bring a plague of death down on his Father's favorite creations, he couldn't mess this up. The witch was powerful enough to seal the cage, which meant that with the help of both of the beings on the inside, she could break it open as well. "You are very powerful." He spoke, keeping his voice soft but loud enough for the girl to hear over her own chanting. When all she did was glance up at him, he smiled slightly to himself as she looked back to what she was working on, at least she had responded to him. "I can sense part of His presence in your magic, my Father's, which means that you would have had contact with him. Did he send you here? To fix another of his problems that he couldn't handle himself?" She continued to chant, but there was a slight frown to her lips as she spoke now. "This cage was never meant to hold more than one of His sons, that's the reason that it even began to crack in the first place."

Ana groaned, could these two be any more predictable? Lucifer's first go to move was to spare her life, Michael's was to talk her into being on his side; the poor, abandoned son. Clenching her jaw, she quit chanting, it would take a bit more force to get the work on the crack started back up again, but she was honestly already tired of both of them thinking that she was going to cave and work for them instead of against them. "First of all, the reason the cage cracked is because myself and another witch literally blew up a devil's gate that was going to be used to release you two. Secondly, you can save your breathe. I'm not going to help you and it doesn't matter what you say. You want to threaten me? Offer me a deal that keeps me alive? Both of you have screwed my family over in such a large way that if there was a way I could get in the cage and beat the living crap out of you, I would. Now, if you don't mind, I'm trying to make sure that neither of you are getting out of here anytime soon."

"She does something other than chant!" Lucifer spoke in mock shock, "And that attitude is so much like Dean's, it must have been terrible growing up with him as a father." he commented as he walked back over to where Michael stood, reaching his destination just in time to see the witch flinch at his words. "Oooo, daddy issues?" He questioned, face scrunching up, "You and me both, sister."

With a roll of her eyes, Ana went back to chanting and ignoring the brothers. She had a lot of work to get done and she wanted to finish without wasting any more time than she already had on either of them. As she chanted her thoughts drifted to Connor; she hoped he was handling this all okay, she really should have talked to him before agreeing to do this. Chuck had told her that she would need to keep it to herself though, that this decision was her's alone and to make that decision she needed to keep the details to herself. She missed him, not just being near him, but their connection. The fact that she was in Hell could have affected their bond in unknown ways which was why she had made sure that Chuck put a God sized block between the two witches, she didn't want anything to happen to him should something go wrong while she was in Hell. The chant that she was using was repetitive, when she reached the end she just started the whole thing over again, and because she had been doing so for days now it was easy to distract herself by thinking about the loved ones she had left behind. The very people she wanted nothing more than to protect by fixing the problem she and Connor had made so that they wouldn't have to deal with either the Devil or the archangel. With that thought in mind she pushed more power into her chant, willing the work to speed up so that she could fix the protective barrier around the cage and get back to her family.

-A-

 _Pop._

 _Pop._

 _POP!_

"Would you cut it out already?!" Dean snapped from his seat at the kitchen table. It had been a couple of days since they had discovered Ana's soullessness and none of it was getting easier to deal with. Since Chuck had dropped the bombshell that her soul would have to find it's own way back to her body then conveniently disappeared before the eldest Winchester could smash his fist against the other man's face, things had only gotten more tense. Gabriel had gone to wake Ana up shortly after his father left and ever since then she had been nothing but annoying. He, Connor, and sometimes Sam would switch off making sure she wouldn't try to escape and since she didn't sleep, neither would they when it was their turn to keep an eye on her. Which was why the two of them were sitting in the kitchen at three in the morning; Dean with a bottle of beer in hand and Ana sitting on the counter, making that God awful popping noise with the bubble gum in her mouth.

Ana grunted and rolled her eyes, "I'm so bored!" she complained, lifting her hands from where they were resting on her lap and waving them at him, the iron shackles still firmly in place around her wrists. "Just let me go, Dean. I'm obviously not going to do anything to hurt myself and like I keep saying, I'm not dumb enough to bring attention to myself or the fact that I'm a witch. I know what the Council does to rogue witches, I'd like to keep my powers and my life, thank you very much."

 _Dean._ His name coming out of his daughter's mouth with a tone that held no warmth hit him like a fist in the gut. Everytime she said it the pain would hit him again and it took everything in him not to just knock her out so he wouldn't have to hear it anymore. "I'm not an idiot, Anastasia. I let you out of those cuffs and then you're gone in an instant, halfway around the world, letting other strange men take body shots off of you." He cringed at the memory.

"There's more to life than being some guy's shot glass, _daddy._ " She snapped, hopping off of the counter and slowly walking over to where he sat. "So much more. This world has so many things to experience and I finally don't give a rat's ass what comes out of any of it. Do you know what it's like to be constantly riddle with panic and anxiety? It's fucking terrible, that's what it is. You're always too worried about the outcomes or what people think to just do whatever the hell you want and now that my soul is gone, I finally have the chance to do that." she shook her head at him, "But no, I have to stay here, locked up like some rabid dog waiting to be euthanised."

Standing up with so much force that he knocked his chair over, he fixed his green eyes on her and glared. What right did she have to talk to him like that? He was furious, face reddening as he fought back the urge to throw the monster in front of him against the wall and call Gabriel down to use his angel mojo on her. Sucking in a deep breath, Dean grabbed on to the chain that held the cuffs together and pulled her behind him as he left the room. He ignored her protests and weak attempts to fight him as he made his way down the hall and to the door he was looking for. Not even bothering to knock, he threw the door open and pushed Ana into the darkness, the light from the hallway showing the room enough that he could see the figure in the bed sit up quickly. "I might kill her if I have to spend another second with her." he growled, turning to walk back down the hallway.

"Dean? Where are you going?" Connor called after him as he quickly got out of bed, moving past Ana to his open door.

Without slowing down, he threw the answer over his shoulder, "I'm going to have a little prayer time." he informed the male witch before rounding a corner and out of Connor's line of sight. If Dean was being honest with himself all of the crap that they had gone through with Ana, from her getting her powers to her now losing her soul, he and Connor had grown closer in a weird way. Of course everyone now thought of the witch as family, but the level of love that both men shared for Ana gave them a deeper understanding of one another and the bond that formed because of that fact was something Dean had never expected.

Connor sighed and turned back to see Ana grinning at him, her eyes focusing on his bare chest. "Keep dreaming." he stated flatly before moving over to his dresser and grabbing a plain tee shirt out of a drawer. Quickly pulling the shirt on, he was glad that he had begun to sleep in pajama pants, otherwise Dean barging in like that could have been a little weird. "What'd you do to piss him off this time?" he questioned as he moved to turn on the lamp beside his bed.

She shrugged, feigning innocence, "What makes you think I did something? You know how Dean gets. All attitude and pent up sexual tension for angel boy."

"Castiel." Connor scolded her.

"What?"

Connor sighed heavily, "Angel boy'. His name is Castiel." He snapped, wondering how things had come full circle. He remembered when they were standing in opposite places, himself with the 'devil may care' attitude and her standing up for the angel she had befriended shortly before the two witches met. God, how the real Ana would be so pissed to hear that her soulless body was acting like a complete bitch about Cas.

With a scoff, Ana moved so that she could sit down on his bed, "I'm aware of his name." she informed him offhandedly, her mind obviously somewhere else as she glanced over her shoulder at the messed up blankets on his bed. "We've made some fond memories here," she patted the mattress, "don't you think?" Turning her attention back to the man standing in front of her, she gave him a slow smile.

" _We_ haven't made anything here." He snarled, hating that this was something they had to deal with. It wouldn't be so damn upsetting if the woman sitting on his bed wasn't determined to seduce him every chance she got and though she knew all of his weaknesses, the mere fact that she wasn't _his_ Ana kept him from feeling anything toward her.

"Oh, come on, Connor!" She pleaded, tilting her head back as she let out a long sigh. After a moment she righted her head so that she could look at him properly, "I'm still her, ya know?" Pausing, she waited for the recognition of her words to hit and when a look crossed his face, it was clear that he was following her words. "Same body, same powers, same mind. Just because all of the boring stuff is gone doesn't mean we can't have a good time."

Connor backed away from her with a disgusted scoff, "See, that's where you're wrong. What's left of you without a soul makes your mind completely different. You're doing and saying things that you otherwise wouldn't, you're antagonizing the entire family just for the hell of it. You're not our Ana, not _my_ Ana, and it's because of that reason that nothing you do or say will get me in a bed with you."

With a soft laugh, Ana leaned back and slowly crossed one leg over the other. "We both know that some of our best times have happened outside of the bed." she winked at him, grinning wider at the redness that creeped onto his cheeks from anger.

Connor clenched his jaw and stormed out of the room, slamming the door closed behind him, only stopping long enough to place a spell over it so it wouldn't open from the inside. No wonder Dean had gotten away from her, she was being extremely irritating tonight. Moving away from his room, he made his way toward the kitchen, looking to cut the edge of her words with a beer. It had only been days since Ana had left and he was growing impatient for her return, there was no telling how much longer they were going to hold it together with taking care of her soulless body. Guilt flooded his body after that thought, the last thing he should be worried about was how they were handling this rather simple problem while his soulmate was literally in Hell, probably being harassed by the Devil himself.

-A-

"Carly? No, that seems too plain. Venessa? Oo! I've got it. Lucy, right?!" Lucifer had gone from threatening her to trying to annoy her to death a long time ago. It had first started with him trying to guess how exactly her parents met and how Dean felt about banging a witch, but it had quickly turned over to what her name was.

Ana didn't respond in the slightest, continuing to chant. The crack was slowly growing closer and closer to being completely fixed, thank God. She wasn't sure how long she had actually been in Hell, but it felt like weeks that she had been working endlessly to right the wrong in the structure of the most powerful prison to ever be made. If there was one thing she was getting out of it all, it was that the entire thing was a learning experience. After spending so much time in the presence of the brothers she had found it easy to learn when they were going to switch from being semi-decent to threatening her with her worst fears. Also, being a spirit was pretty cool, if only because of the fact that she knew that she would be returning to her body. She had never once felt hungry or tired, her mouth didn't ache from the endless chanting as she was sure it would had she been on Earth in her body. This way actually worked better, even if it meant leaving a problem for her family topside and for herself in the fact that she had to find her own way back, but Chuck had assured her that he would give her the perfect opportunity.

Michael sighed and leaned against the cage, glancing outside at the soul hovering just in front of him. If only this damn cage didn't render him powerless he would be able to smite the witch on the other side, permanently putting an end to her being. "Lucifer, you're not going to figure it out and even if you do, the girl isn't going to respond. Why don't you just drop it?"

"Defending the witch, are we?" the Devil raised an eyebrow at his brother as he slowly crossed his arms over his chest, "I always knew you were a softy, Mike, but I never pegged you as one for a witch."

The archangel scoffed, "I'm not defending her, I just don't like the sound of your voice as much as you do." Michael sighed and turned his attention back to the witch, "No, once she fails and she _will_ fail, we'll be free and I'll be able to end her properly."

Taking a deep breath in through her nose Ana continued to chant, trying to keep the fear at Michael's words from affecting her, but it was a lot harder to keep herself unafraid of the brothers locked in the cage when she was standing close enough for them to touch if they hadn't been blocked by the cage and it's magic. She ignored the dark chuckles from the two in the cage as she fumbled part of the chant, there was no way she could mess this up now, she had to be certain that her job was done properly. The only thing that was going to be difficult about that was the fact that it would take her much longer to fortify everything and triple check her work while wrapping the whole thing in possibly the biggest spell she had ever tried to accomplish. It was going to be Hell, literally.

-A-

Three weeks had passed since Chuck had sent Ana's soul to Hell and things had only gotten worse at the bunker. Everyone refused to speak with her, the only reason she wasn't alone at any given time was because they were all too worried what she would do once she was. They had taken to putting everyone on the rotating shifts to watch out for her; Dean, Sam, and Connor no longer being able to do it with just the three of them. Which was how she came to be seated in the library with only Kellen as company, but the man refused to even acknowledge her other than making sure she wasn't trying to escape. Apparently he was pretty disturbed by her sexual advances, which Ana honestly didn't understand. She was hot; her face was pretty, her eyes were stunning, and though she lacked a little in the breast department the physical aspects of being a hunter and keeping herself trained kept her body fit. With a shake of her head Ana moved her attention from her chest to where Kellen sat across the table from her, though he _was_ pretty attractive she was quickly growing bored of looking at the same faces day in and day out. Night had set in hours ago, if there was anytime to break the hell out of there it would be while there was only one person awake. With that thought in mind she stood from her chair and began to walk to the other side of the table.

The sound of a chair sliding across the floor drew Kellen's attention up from the book he had been skimming over, seeing that Ana was now on her feet he raised an eyebrow at her, "Where do you think you're going?" he questioned, really hoping that the person that was in control of his best friend's body wouldn't try to seduce him again.

"No where." She shrugged, "Just wanted to know what you were reading." Standing behind his chair, she leaned down so that she could look at the book in his hand. "Trapping a Witch: Part 1. Really?" she raised an eyebrow at him, "Have I done anything to make this seem necessary?"

Kellen scoffed, "I'm not even going to try to list all of them for you, but this isn't for you if that's what you're assuming. I've been making my way through the basics of every supernatural creature on record in this place, just so happened to be witches now." he informed her.

Ana smiled, "Well, that's good, because I would really hate to see you try and trap me. I may not have my powers, but I'm still fully capable of kicking your ass." She lifted her cuffed hands up, "These won't stop that." she pointed out before quickly bringing her hands down toward his temple and successfully knocking him out. "See?" With a soft laugh, Ana looked around the room quickly before walking toward the exit. Just as she jogged up the stairs and reached the top door, she looked back over her shoulder one last time to make sure she hadn't been caught before opening the door and walking out into the night.

It didn't take long for the young woman to track down a ride into town, a rather dirty looking trucker slowing down his vehicle next to her and offering her a ride into the town. Once she was situated in the passenger seat the man began to drive again, glancing down at the cuffs around the girl's wrists. "You get yourself in some trouble, pretty lady?" he questioned, eyes focusing back on the road.

"Just a prank gone wrong. Some of my friends thought it would be funny to cuff me and leave me to fend for myself." Ana lied half heartedly, she honestly didn't care what the man sitting in the seat next to her thought and as long as she got into town where she could get her hands on a saw and break through the damn iron that's all the mattered. Thankfully the trucker didn't try to make any further conversation, only coming to a stop just inside of the town where Ana had asked to be dropped off. "Thanks for the lift, buddy." she commented as she moved to get out of the truck.

Reaching out a hand and setting it on her shoulder, the trucker stopped her before she could jump out of the vehicle, "Well hold on there, now, miss. I do believe I deserve something a little more than a thank you."

Snapping her head around to look over her shoulder, she glared daggers at the man, "Unless you want a black eye, I'd suggest you don't touch me again and keep your perverted thoughts to yourself." Shrugging his hand off of her, she hopped out of the truck and slammed the door closed behind her. Though she had spent a small amount of time in Lebanon, she was thankful that she had paid enough attention to know where the only hardware store was. In a town with just over two hundred people Ana was thankful that there even was one. Looking around she was happy to see that the streets were empty as she pulled the bobby pin that she had been keeping in her back pocket out and began to work to pick the lock, which didn't take long. Turned out that living in such a small town, people didn't expect to be robbed, so their was no further security than that. Entering the store, she quickly shut the door behind her and walked toward the aisles lined with tools. After searching through most of them she finally found an electric saw that looked like it could cut through the iron attached to her wrists. Now the hard part was going to be cutting them off by herself without losing a hand. Moving around the store, she stopped when she found a power outlet and plugged the thing in, deciding that she would cut the chain holding the cuffs together then it would be easier to go at the cuffs themselves.

About twenty minutes later Ana was completely free of her shackles, a wide smile spreading across her face as she felt the control of her magic return. She never wanted to be without it again. With the smile still firmly in place she teleported out of the store, deciding to go somewhere fun, but she was stopped halfway to her destination by a force knocking her onto her back on the ground. "What the Hell?" she snapped, wondering what had happened, but as she stood up it was easy to tell that she wasn't anywhere near Las Vegas. If what her magic was telling her was correct, Sin City was further away than it had been to begin with. Looking around she came to the conclusion that she stood in a hallway and turning around her eyes landed on a door just down the way. With a grin she walked until she reached it and paused a moment before she pushed open the heavy wooden doors. How exactly she found Crowley's throne room she couldn't quite remember, but she was here and if the look on the King of Hell's face was anything to go by she was in for a good time. The demons that stood around the room turned to look at the intruder and waited for their King's orders before taking action. A sly grin spread across her face as she walked further into the room, "Not so much as a 'hello'? I'm hurt boys." she teased, walking around a table and dragging her finger across it.

"Anastasia…" Crowley began, watching the witch carefully though he didn't move from his seat, "is there a particular reason why you're here?"

"Boredom?" She offered, moving around the table and walking toward him, hands resting on her hips as she looked him over. "If I would have stayed at the bunker a second longer I may have put a bullet through my skull just to end it and, c'mon, that would just be a waste of beauty."

The King gave her a calculating look before a slow smile formed on his lips, "Leave us." he commanded and when his demons didn't move instantly at his orders, he moved his eyes around the witch in front of him to glare at them. He waited until they had all hurried out of the room and closed the door behind them before he stood up, "Feeling a little… empty, darling?" he questioned, walking around her in a slow circle.

"If you're coming on to me, I'm going to have to stop you right now because there's no way in Hell that's going to happen." She paused, thinking about her words, "Maybe not the best way to put it, but you get my drift."

Crowley chuckled, "I was referring to your missing soul, Anastasia. There's a rather sad history of this type of predicament in your family." he circled back around until he was standing in front of her, "I know you didn't make a deal, so where has the pesky thing gone to I wonder?"

Ana shrugged, walking around him toward his throne and taking a seat, "Well, when God says he needs to borrow something for a recipe there's not a whole lot of reason to say no."

"The big man upstairs asked for your soul?" His voice was thick with disbelief, turning around to look at her, he scowled when he caught sight of how comfortable she had made herself in his throne. One leg swung over the armrest and she was slumped down in it as she picked at her nails.

"Yup." She answered, popping the 'p' at the end with the smack of her lips. "In the whole mess of keeping Lucifer and Michael in the cage there was some damage, my soul is wandering around in the deepest pits of your kingdom working to put it back together. Can't have any escapees, Crowley."

"Are you daft?" He studied her a long moment, waiting for a response he apparently wasn't going to get, "And pray tell, little Winchester, how is your soul supposed to mend the cage? Surely you don't have that kind of power and if He was going to send you down there, why not the whole package?"

Dropping her hands, Ana looked up at him and grinned at the angry expression he had in response to her sitting on his throne, "Long story short, without my human body to limit my power, I'm stronger. God's giving me a little boost as well, so that's going to help. All you need to worry about is the fact that because of me, your position as King of Hell is still in tact."

Crowley slipped his hands inside his pockets and raised his eyebrows at her, "So you're here to brag?" he questioned, knowing better to trust a Winchester, soul or lack thereof.

"No." She shook her head and stood up, "I told you, I'm bored. All Dean and Sam can talk about is when I'm going to get my soul back, Connor looks at me like I'm some monster, none of them will talk to me, and Gabriel and Castiel are off seeking out their father for answers. It's rather dull."

"So you thought you'd make a little trip down to Hell to visit your favorite demon?" He scoffed, "Come now, darling, there has to be more to it than that." His eyes wandered down her body and landed on her flat stomach, he had been trying to decipher the feeling he was getting from her. Though she was clearly soulless, something was off and it was then that he realized what it was. "Is it a possibility that you've got other things to avoid?" He asked as he slowly raised his eyes to meet hers, an all knowing smirk on his lips.

Ana cocked an eyebrow at him, arms crossing over her chest and hip sliding out to the side, "What else do I have to be avoiding other than an obnoxious family?"

Taking a step toward her, the King removed a hand from his pocket and once he was close enough he placed it on her stomach, "I would assume that the parasite growing in your womb would be something to avoid. From what I've heard of pregnancy it sounds like a real downer."

-A-

From what little she could keep track of her time there, it had been months that Ana had been working her magic on the cage. The chanting part had ended and then she had spent the rest of the time mending the magic of the protective barrier around the cage while adding her own barrier around that one. She had also spent some time double checking it all, which was the exact opposite of what she wanted to do. Once she had finished with the actual spellwork all she wanted to do was run from the brothers in the cage, run from the terrible things that they threatened to do to her family, and escape the images Lucifer had painted of Sam's time locked in the cage with him. By the time she was certain that everything would hold it didn't seem like she could get away from them fast enough, but she did her best to ignore the yells of threats as she left and once the door that she had entered through was between herself and the cage, the young witch didn't feel much better. Making sure that the lock was securely in it's place, Ana turned and bolted back the way she came only making it halfway down the length of the hall she could see before she fell to the floor, her body shaking as she sobbed. For a while she was certain that it wouldn't stop, that she wouldn't be able to get back up on her feet and get out of the hell out of… Hell. All of her fear was quickly washed away by a tugging in her chest, a sensation that she wasn't completely sure of, but Chuck had said that He would make it possible for her soul to make it's way back to her body and that thought alone had her back on her feet, running as fast as she could in the direction that the sensation was leading her. Stopping abruptly as she came to a set of wooden doors Ana hesitated for just a moment before pushing them both open with a wave of power and walking in, coming to a halt yet again as her eyes landed on Crowley and her body.

Crowley turned to see the witch's soul standing just inside of the room and a slow smile tugged at his lips as he looked back and forth between the two separate parts to the Winchester witch, "Well, well, well… this is going to be interesting."


	48. Chapter 48

**A/N: Hello my dears! Who's ready for another update? I wanted to get this up as fast as I could after posting the last chapter, so here it is for all of you. I'm** _ **really**_ **excited for upcoming things and I'm going to hopefully be posting faster because of it. Let me know what you all think! I hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

Morning rolled around before anyone was the wiser about Ana's escape. Sam had been the first awake, per usual, and when he found Kellen unconscious in the library it didn't take him long to come to the conclusion of who his attacker had been. Once he had gotten the young man to come back to the conscious world the tallest Winchester moved quickly through the bunker to awake the remaining people in their family. Not even bothering to knock on his brother's door, Sam threw the door opened and met his brother's confused expression as he rolled over in bed with a frantic one of his own, "Ana's gone."

"What?!" Dean snapped, the grogginess that he had felt moments before dissipating with those two words. Jumping out of bed he didn't stop to change his clothes or even to grab his robe as he stormed out of his room in nothing but an old pair of sweats. "What the hell happened?" he demanded to know as he stormed toward Ana's bedroom, hoping that this was some sort of sick prank.

Sam sighed and followed after Dean, "Kellen says the last thing he remembers is talking to Ana about the book he had been reading before everything went black. From the lump on his head I'm assuming she laid into him with the shackles."

Shoving Ana's door open with a growl, Dean swore under his breath after his eyes did a quick scan of the space. His next thought was to head toward the library, wanting to talk to Kellen himself about what had happened while he was supposed to be on watch. If Ana had used force against him it wasn't the kid's fault, but the elder Winchester's anger had been building over the weeks and this was the last straw. As he rounded the corner into the library the little anger that was aimed at Kellen disappeared once he saw the younger man holding an ice pack to his temple. Making his way across the room he took in a slow, deep breath, forcing himself to calm down before he spoke with the victim of his soulless daughter's escape plan. When he reached Kellen he removed the ice pack and took a look at the deep purple bruise that was already forming, "Of course she fucking did this!" Dean snapped, turning away from Kellen, his anger was no longer at the kid, but at the person that began this whole thing. "If you hadn't taken her damn soul we wouldn't be dealing with a crazy powerful witch on the loose!" he aimed his yelling upward, ignoring the appearance of Gabe and Cas as he continued. "This is your damn mess Chuck or God or whoever the hell you are, now get your holy ass down here and fix it!"

"Dean-"

"No." Dean interrupted Cas' plea before he could get any further, he knew by the tone of the angel's voice that he was going to try to reason with the angry man, but Dean wasn't going to put up with it. He had the right to be pissed, damn it! "I'm right and you know it. The only reason Ana is soulless in the first place is because your Father removed her soul. Well, now we don't have a body for that soul to return to and there's no telling what she's doing out in the world without a moral compass."

There was silence as Dean and Cas stared at each other, but it was quickly broken by the sound of a clearing throat. "Do you really think that I would let her get that far?" Chuck asked, making sure to keep the table that Kellen was sitting at between himself and Dean. Yes, he was God, but there was no way he was going to underestimate the anger of Dean Winchester.

"You know what I think?" Dean sneered at him, "That you're a selfish ass. You took her soul and put it in Hell, all for what? To fix a problem that you don't feel like taking care of? Because that's what it seems like!"

Cas stepped up, "Dean, I would appreciate it if you didn't speak to my Father that way." he spoke in the same calm tone that he normally did, but the angel's eyes held a hint of anger.

"He took my daughter's soul, Cas!" Dean snapped, glaring at the man he had claimed as a friend, someone he was sure loved Ana just as everyone else did, but if that was true then why was he standing up for the person who had put her in danger.

"God! That is enough!" Chuck yelled over any further comment that could have been made by anyone in the room. Taking a moment for the shock of his raised voice to wear off and to calm himself down, he sighed, "I didn't take her soul, Dean. I gave her full choice to the offer, Ana knew she could turn it down and that I wouldn't have done anything else. We spoke in great lengths about what I was asking of her, about what she would be dealing with while she was fixing the cage, and how she would have to find her way back to her body on her own." Pushing a hand through his curly hair, Chuck considered his next words, "I couldn't have done this myself. Ever since I cast Lucifer out of Heaven, Hell has been his domain and just as he is not allowed back into Heaven, I'm not allowed into Hell. Terrible things would happen the moment I stepped foot there and I wasn't willing to bring the walls of Hell down, releasing demons and other terrible souls to fix what was broken. Ana was the logical choice and I will be forever grateful that she agreed to go, to keep both of my sons locked away."

The fact that there was a reasonable explanation as to why Chuck couldn't have gone to Hell himself did little to appease Dean. He was still rolling with anger and worry for his daughter. They had no way to tell how her mission with the cage was going or when she would be returning home and the fact that her body was missing as well on top of everything else was enough to send him over the edge. Just as he was about to let Chuck have another piece of his mind the sound of his phone ringing echoed through the hall and toward the library, he had left the device in his bedroom and was thankful that he'd left the volume up on his ringtone.

"Maybe it's Ana." Connor spoke the hopeful words that had already passed through Dean's head.

Turning around the elder Winchester jogged toward his room and made it to his phone just before the call ended, glancing at the screen his eyebrows knit together in confusion. Hitting the call back button he made his way back into the library, meeting seven pairs of hope filled eyes. "Crowley." he spoke flatly once the phone on the other end of the call was answered.

"Squirrel. I think I have a couple of things you're missing." The King of Hell spoke with an amused tone.

-A-

To say that watching the two separate parts of the Winchester girl argue was entertaining could be considered an understatement. Crowley had seen many things in his time as a demon, but a soul fighting with it's living body was one that he had yet to witness and he wasn't disappointed. With an amused grin on his face, the King of Hell took a seat on his throne to watch the show that was being played out in front of him.

"What do you mean you don't want me back?" Soul Ana snapped, looking at her body as if she had lost her mind. Not only was it very confusing to be arguing with herself, but add that on top of the fact that her body was apparently okay with being soulless and she wasn't ready for this argument. Not after what she had just gone through with the cage, Michael, and Lucifer.

Soulless Ana scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest and rolling her eyes, "Of course I don't want you back! Do you know what it's like to live with you? Constantly worrying about one idiotic thing or another, too self-conscious to do what you want, and damn is it boring living with all of the 'traumatic experiences'. We were tortured as a child, big freaking whoop. The guy is dead, isn't he? Get the fuck over it already!"

Crowley chuckled softly, causing both parts of Ana to snap their heads to the side and glare at him. "Don't mind me." he waved a dismissive hand at both of them, not wanting to get in the way of the show they were putting on.

"You know that you don't really have a choice right? I'm going to do the spell that puts us back together and there's really nothing you can do to stop it." The soul informed her body, knowing that it was easier said than done.

"Right." The body scoffed, "I am just aware as you are that the spell requires contact between the two of us and you're either crazy or stupid if you think I'm letting you get anywhere near me."

Clenching her jaw, Soul Ana lashed out with her magic, forcing her own body to be thrown across the room. "And you're either crazy or stupid if you think I'm giving you a choice in the matter. We share the same magic and in case you hadn't noticed I'm the majority holder of that power right now, so you may want to rethink your strategy."

It was then that the fight broke out. Ana's body stood back up on her feet and threw her own magic out, knowing that if she was going to have any chance of getting out of there without her soul jumping on board that she would have to be the quicker thinker. Which was harder to do when she was fighting against something that thought exactly like she did when it came to battle strategy. The separate pieces of Ana fought, each blocking most blows that came their way, making it more difficult for both of them to weaken the other.

Crowley continued to watch with a smirk until the fight began to tear apart his throne room. It wasn't like he would do any of the cleaning himself, but he would rather not replace anything that would be broken during their battle. Sighing, he reached into the pocket of his suit jacket to retrieve his phone, wondering why he even kept the damn thing around. The search through his contact list was short, there weren't many people that he communicated with via the cellphone, which was why he was considering getting rid of it. The Winchesters rarely spoke with him and it was the only reason he had it in the first place. Selecting Squirrel's contact file, he tapped on the call symbol and placed the phone to his ear, watching the fight in front of him escalade as the soul of Ana pushed her body up against a wall and held her there by her throat. When there was no answer Crowley hung up the phone and considered what to do now, but the thought was short lived as his phone began to ring with Dean returning his call. The King answered the call, not speaking, just holding the device to his ear as the Winchester spoke his name. In return Crowley smiled slyly before replying, "Squirrel, I think I have a couple of things you're missing."

Dean was about to counter that he wasn't in the mood for Crowley's games when he distinctly heard "You bitch!" snapped in a voice that he was certain belonged to his daughter and not the soulless body version, it held all of the emotion that soulless Ana hadn't been able to show in weeks. "Where are you?" he demanded, ready to go find his daughter and bring her back home, soul in tact.

"Me? I've got a front row seat to the biggest bout of the century. Ever seen one witch fight against herself? It's rather amusing, the collateral damage is something I could do without though." The King answered, eyes glued to the body and the soul as they each threw a wave of power at the other, the magic ricocheting off of itself and slamming back down on the witch's separate parts.

"Wait, they're both there?" Dean asked, shocked that Ana was closer to coming home than he thought. "What do you mean she's fighting herself?" he questioned after replaying Crowley's last response in his head.

Crowley rolled his eyes, "Long story short, your daughter is having some inner turmoil, though it's all out in the open now. Either way, they're tearing apart my throne room and I'm growing weary of it. Would you like them back now?"

There was a frustrated scream that made both Crowley and Dean wince, the latter glad that he was only hearing that over the phone. "You do realize that you have no choice in this, right? I'm going to reconnect us and you're just going to have to deal with all of the emotions again. Not like you're going to be able to complain because we're the same damn person!" Soul Ana yelled, at the crumpled form of her body on the ground, turns out that if one cuts off the trachea long enough and causes a little blunt force trauma to the head even a witch becomes dazed.

"Well, if we're the same person," Soulless Ana began weakly, pushing herself up from where she laid on the floor, "then you should have seen this coming." Before her soul could respond, she teleported herself out of Crowley's throne room and as far away as she could get.

"Damn it!" The soul swore, spinning to look at the King of Hell, "Crowley, how do I get out of here?"

He turned his attention away from the conversation he was having with Dean to look at the soul of the witch, "I can provide a little help with that, figure I owe you one for keeping the cage locked down. You did succeed in fixing it, didn't you?"

Ana rolled her eyes, "Yes, Lucifer isn't getting out any time soon. Now get me back to my family." she stated, pausing at the pointed look that the demon in front of her was piercing her with. "Please." she added begrudgingly.

Crowley smiled, "I'll get you back to your precious family, but a quick warning dear," he paused to move the microphone of his phone away from his mouth, "you may want to make quick work of getting your body back before she hurts your unborn child." The wide eyed expression was exactly the shock factor he was going for and he grinned as he turned back to his phone. "I'm sending part of your daughter back to you, Squirrel. Be expecting her in three.. two.. one." He snapped his fingers and the soul was out of his sight and if the sharp intake of breath from the other line was anything to go off of she had successfully appeared in the bunker. "Tell the witch that this makes us even. She kept me on the throne, I got her soul out of Hell."

Dean didn't even bother responding as he ended the call, shoving his phone into the pocket of his sweats. "Ana? What happened?" he moved toward his daughter, ready to wrap his arms around her in a hug, but the shocked expression on her face made him pause. "What's going on?"

It was hard to think around the shock that had set into her system. Had Crowley been telling the truth? Was she really pregnant? Her thoughts rushed around as she tried to come up with a logical reason for the demon to lie, but the truth was much more devastating than lying about it would be. Her eyes met her father's seeing the worry there before she flicked them quickly toward Connor, there was no telling how he was going to take this news. Neither of them were prepared to deal with the prophecy that concerned their unborn child, Hell neither of them were ready to be parents. This wasn't supposed to happen for a few years, they had been careful. Ana had been on the pill for years and they had used a condom, how in the Hell was she pregnant?! Shaking her head, she tried to pull herself back in, they could only deal with one thing at a time and right now she needed to focus on getting her body back before it did something dumb that could possibly harm the baby. She focused back on her father and realized that he had been speaking to her, "Sorry, what were you saying, dad?"

Dean visibly relaxed at the sound of the last word, a small smile forming on his lips. Sure they didn't have her body back, but at least her soul was out of Hell. "What happened? Crowley said that you were fighting with… you. This is all so weird."

"You think this is weird? I literally just had a full out knock down with myself, I spent months next to the cage fixing the damage and listening to Lucifer trying to converse casually with me. I think I've got you beat." She informed him, her mind wandering back to the subject of her unborn child, hopefully the fight hadn't caused any harm to that part of her body.

"Did it work?" Chuck asked, finally stepping forward, causing Ana to realize that the room was filled with more than just her father and Connor.

She nodded, "Uh, yeah. The crack is fixed, I fortified the magic already around it and added a spell of my own. I triple checked it all; a normal demon isn't going to be able to break through it so we won't have to worry about Jade letting them out. Which is good because now we have a bigger problem to deal with."

"Your body." Chuck nodded, having not considered that there would be a fight when it was time for the two to be reunited. "What happened?"

"Apparently it's too boring to have a soul so she teleported away once she had the chance. We need to hurry and find her before she does something stupid." Ana told them, not voicing the real reason for her worry. "Is it weird to anyone else that I'm talking about myself in the third person? At this point am I even one person or am I two?" she aimed the last question at Chuck or either of the angels, assuming they would have the best idea.

Gabriel stepped forward, giving Ana a soft smile, it was good to know that she was back in one piece. Her soul at least, they would get her back in one _whole_ piece shortly. "You're still one person when it comes down to it, but we won't have to worry about that much longer. Cas and I will track down your body and bring it back here, kicking and screaming if we have to."

"Thanks Gabe." She gave the angel a warm smile, happy to be home and in the company of angels she knew and trusted rather than at the side of the cage. They all watched the angels disappear before it seemed all attention was back on her. "I am so ready to hug all of you, but I'm going to assume it doesn't work while I'm like this?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at Chuck.

He nodded, "Sorry, you'll have to wait until you have your body back before you'll be able to touch anyone." Chuck took a look around the room and came to a conclusion, "I'm going to leave, give you some time together. Ana, I'll speak with you soon." Giving her one last knowing look before he disappeared from the room.

Sighing, Ana wondered what He wanted to speak with her about, but she was assuming since Crowley knew she was pregnant that Chuck most likely did as well. That was going to be a fun conversation. Deciding to distract herself while they were waiting for the angels to come back with her body she looked around at everyone, "So, how's it been since I've been gone."

"Really?" Dean questioned, looking at her in disbelief. "That's what you're going to lead off with? How we've been? Ana, you were in Hell, your body left here soulless and you didn't even have the decency to warn us about what you were doing. How about you explain that?" he snapped, anger getting the best of him.

"If I would have told you, you would have tried to find a way to stop me. I couldn't let that happen, dad, Connor and I caused the problem, it needed to be fixed so I went to do so. I'm fine, other than the whole body-less thing, but we're working on that." Ana explained, throwing her hands in the air in a dramatic huff.

Dean scoffed, "You're fine?" he didn't believe her, what little time he had in the presence of Michael and Lucifer led him to believe that she wasn't completely fine after spending so much time near them. "You said months passed while you were down there, Ana, and you want me to believe you're no different than when you left?"

With a sigh the youngest Winchester turned her back on her family, "Look, I'm not saying it was a good time, I never want to be that close to either Michael or Lucifer every again, but it could have been worse." She slowly turned back around to look at Dean and Sam, knowing that both men knew what it was like to be in Hell. "The difference between your time there and mine was that I wasn't dead, I wasn't being tortured physically at all and the magic around the cage kept both of them out of my head. The only thing that either of them could hurt me with were their twisted words and yes, they did do that, but I'm out now. That's what matters."

Before the conversation could get any further Castiel appeared at Ana's side with a grim expression, "We can't find your body. She must have cloaked herself from us, Gabriel is still trying while I'm here hoping that you and Connor can find her since we can't."

Ana turned her head to look at Connor, finally seeing the dark circles that were under his eyes and the weariness they held. It was clear to her that he hadn't been doing well with her absence, "She could be anywhere right now." she concluded, trying to process through the strongest tracking spell they could us. "Blood to blood."

"What?" Connor raised an eyebrow at her, "That spell is a witch to witch spell and in case you weren't aware we're lacking in a witch that's blood related to you." he pointed out, knowing that she already knew that information.

"Just trust me, it will work." She told him firmly, really hoping that he wouldn't continue to question her, but she knew her luck was slim.

He raised an eyebrow at his soulmate, "Ana, there are only two blood to blood spells that either of us are aware of and the only one that would be powerful enough to summon your body requires that the witch casting it be the blood relative of the person they're tracking. Obviously you and I aren't blood related so it isn't going to work."

"Will you not question me about this and do the damn spell?!" She snapped, surprising everyone in the room. They weren't used to _their_ Ana snapping like that and it was something that made them all worry.

"Fine!" Connor snapped back, moving over to the table that Kellen was still seated at and waving his hand over the table, using his magic to make one of their mixing bowls and a knife appear. "You're going to hate it when I say 'told you so'." he told her, knowing that he was taking out his anger on her soulless body on the woman he loved, but he was so sleep deprived that he honestly didn't really care. Picking the blade up off of the table, he held his hand over the bowl and began to chant in Latin, dragging the blade down his hand as he spoke and letting his blood drop into the bowl on the table. When the chant was finished there was a quick flash of light and then an aggravated sound from Ana's body as she realized that she had been beat. "How-"

"There's no time, I'll explain later." Soul Ana told him, pulling on her power to teleport herself right behind her body. Pulling on the power that the two shared, she took enough to keep her other self from teleporting as she grabbed onto her body's hand and began chanting quickly. This had to be done fast if she was going to complete it and keep her body from running off again. Her body fought against her, but Ana only tightened her grip as she finished the spell causing her soul to slam back into her body and then fall to the floor.

Dean hurried over to his daughter as she lay still on the floor, wondering if something had gone wrong with her spell. "Ana?" He knelt down next to her and pulled her up so her head was resting on his knees, "Ana?!" Becoming frantic, he looked up to Connor and Cas, "What's going on? Why isn't she waking up?"

"It's most likely going to take some time for her body to readjust to having a soul. It took Sam some time to recover once he got his back and I wouldn't be surprised if we're dealing with the same scenario." Castiel walked over to Dean, kneeling down on one knee and touching his fingers to Ana's forehead to check on her. It was then that he realized why the spell that Connor performed worked, Ana was carrying his child and therefore making the premise of the spell work in their favor. "She's going to be fine." The angel assured Dean, keeping the news of Ana's pregnancy to himself since he doubted that anyone knew, she was barely a month along. He pondered how she knew, assuming that it was the reason she was positive the spell would work. No human technology short of a blood test would show that she was with child and he was almost certain that she had no chance to go see a doctor with how much they all had going on lately.

Connor walked toward the three of them, his own head spinning as he tried to figure out how the spell worked. "Here," he spoke to Dean, "I'll take her to her room."

Dean looked up at the witch and shook his head, "Man, you're dead on your feet. I'll go put her in her bed, you should go get some sleep. Hell, you all should get some sleep." he commented looking around at his family, seeing that all of them looked just as tired as he felt. It had been a hard couple of weeks trying to keep Ana's body from doing something stupid.

There was a moment where Connor thought of arguing with the older man, but Dean was right. He hadn't slept right since Ana had been gone and now that she was back home maybe he would be able to get some decent sleep so that he would be in the right mind when she woke up. "Alright." he finally conceded and turned to leave the room, hoping that she wouldn't be out long, he wanted answers about why the spell had worked.

"I can send her to her room if you'd like." Cas offered, knowing that Dean was just as tired as the rest of the family, maybe it wasn't a smart idea for him to be carrying Ana's weight either.

Shaking his head, Dean adjusted his daughter so that he could pick her up and he slowly made his way to his feet. "Thanks, Cas, but I've got her. Why don't you let Gabe know that she's here and back in one piece, I'm sure he's still trying to find her."

Gabe suddenly appeared in front of Dean, "I knew the moment she was here, whatever she was doing to cloak herself from us disappeared once she arrived." he explained, looking at the unconscious witch in Dean's arms. "Cas, Dad has asked to speak with us." he spoke, eyes still focused on the witch that he cared so much for. His little brother gave him a short nod before both angels flew out of the room.

The rest of the family slowly filtered out of the room, Charlie moving to Kellen's side as she was afraid that he might have a concussion and not wanting him to pass out on the walk to his bedroom. Sam paused for a moment once it was just them in the room, watching his brother with his niece, "She's home and Cas said she's going to be fine." he spoke, knowing that his brother would need to be reminded of both facts.

"But she was in Hell, Sammy. There's no telling what either of those douches said to her while she was down there. What if she's not okay after that?" He questioned, heading out of the library and down the hall, knowing that this brother would follow.

"After what happened with Brandon, she's built up a tough skin. I think that she's going to be fine. Is it going to be hard for her to process? Yes, but she's not alone Dean. She has all of us and we're not going to let her try to deal with any of it alone." Sam spoke sternly, knowing that his brother needed him to be one hundred percent certain of the words coming out of his mouth. "She's going to be fine. She's going to wake up and go back to embarrassing you in front of the women you're trying to pick up." he added the last part with a chuckle.

Dean scoffed, "Of course, because that's exactly what I need." he muttered as they walked through the door into her bedroom. Being as careful as he could, he laid her down on her bed and covered her up with a blanket. "You really think she's going to be okay?"

"She's a Winchester," Sam pointed out with a wide smile on his face, "of course she's going to be okay." He patted his brother on the shoulder comfortingly as they both looked down at Ana's sleeping form. It wasn't going to be easy, but they were all going to be fine. Sam was sure of it.


	49. Chapter 49

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry this took so long to get up! I really wanted to get this posted sooner, but life happened and as is usual in my life, nothing happened like I planned. Anywho, it's up now and I hope you like it. Let me know what you think, I'm not entirely sure how I'm feeling about the big news in this chapter and would love some feedback. Thanks for reading :)**

Morning slowly drifted to afternoon and Ana had yet to wake up. Dean had spent most of the day by her side, but had eventually been convinced to leave if only to get some food and give Connor some time with her, even if she was unconscious. The bunker had been mostly silent since everything that had happened that morning, each person settling into the relief that Ana was home, in one piece, and safe. Neither Gabe or Cas had returned from whatever meeting they were having with Chuck and other than Connor being able to tell that Ana was still okay, he didn't have an answer to when she would wake up. So everyone was playing the waiting game, each hoping that it wouldn't be long before the young witch came back to them.

Connor lay on his side next to Ana, watching her chest slowly rise and fall as she breathed. His thoughts were still racing, trying to decipher how it was that the spell he performed that morning to summon her body back to the bunker had worked, but he was coming up with a bunch of maybe's and if's. He wouldn't have a definite answer until Ana woke up and answered the question for him, that didn't mean that he stopped thinking about it though. It didn't help that he was still extremely tired after the lack of sleep with her being gone which made it difficult to hold onto a train of thought if it took too much work to follow. Letting his mind drift away from the spell and that morning's events, he found himself wondering what it must have been like for her to be in Hell and so dangerously close to the Devil and the Prince of the Seraphim. Not being able to even grasp an idea of the concept, Connor sighed and closed his eyes, reaching his arm out and holding himself against her side. He hoped that it wouldn't be much longer until she woke up, he wasn't sure he could continue to go on much longer without talking to her.

The short period of time that they had been apart while she was away at school and he was back in Louisiana had been one of the hardest times he had been through since he had left his family as a child, but knowing that she was in Hell was far worse. Ana hadn't just been away, learning and living life like a normal girl her age, her soul had been separated from her body and while part of her was dealing with the cage in Hell the rest of her had been locked down in the bunker, driving the rest of them to their breaking points. While his eyes were glued to her relaxed face, he held his left hand out and conjured the small box that he had left in the top drawer of his dresser amongst his socks, somewhere he knew that she would never have reason to look. While he and the others had been waiting for Ana to wake up at the hospital, Connor called Diane and asked her to find the old wooden box for him. Though when he placed it in the safe at Diane's shop he never really thought he would have need for it, but he still wanted it to be in a safe place should the time come he decided to use it. Diane had been more than happy to send it to him, using her magic rather than shipping it because the box and it's contents were both very old.

Connor had planned on waiting to propose until they were free of the craziness of the world or at least until a time where it had calmed down from the plan to release Michael and Lucifer. It seemed that the cage wasn't going to be opened anytime soon thanks to the witch that lay next to him and though there was still so much to deal with, he knew that there was no guarantee that it would calm down after they had dealt with Jade. Which was why he wanted to do this sooner than he had originally planned. He knew that Ana felt that they were really young to be dedicating the rest of their lives to one another, not that either of them wanted to fight against their fate, but she had told him that she didn't see the need in rushing it if they were going to have their entire lives together. Even knowing that Connor saw no reason to wait any longer, there really wasn't a difference to him in being her soulmate or being married and he wanted the privilege to call her his wife. With that thought in mind he slowly moved off of the bed and with one last look at the love of his life he turned and left the room, making his way toward the library in search of Dean. His attuned senses told him that Dean was there, but that he wasn't alone. Coming to a stop in the entryway of the large room, he waited a moment as he looked to see that everyone was there, sitting around the table and talking with soft smiles that hadn't been there a day ago.

Dean was laughing at some smart ass crack that Kellen made about avoiding handcuffs of any sort for the remainder of his life when he noticed Connor paused in the hall. "Hey, any change?" He asked, his hand fiddling with a pen that had been sitting in front of him.

"Uh, no." Connor answered, walking into the room as he considered pulling Dean aside to talk to him about his plan alone, but seeing everyone together made him realize that if he was going to basically ask Dean about it, that everyone at the table should have a say. They had each been with Ana through so much and he knew that their love for her was unwavering, so he didn't see the point in not letting everyone in on what he wanted to do. "She hasn't moved at all, I'm hoping that she'll wake up soon."

Nodding in agreement, Dean sighed, "Cas said that she was going to be fine. Took Sam a long while to rejoin the world of the living after he had his soul shoved back in, she'll probably be back with us by tomorrow." It was a pure guess, but he hoped that it was true because he was growing antsy as well waiting for his daughter to wake up.

Connor slowly nodded, brushing a hand through his hair, "Yeah, probably." Standing at the table he realized that he was now nervous and he could tell that he wasn't hiding it at all because the three men and one woman at the table where each giving him an odd look.

"You okay, Connor?" Charlie asked, raising an eyebrow at the kid in front of her. He wasn't much younger than she was, but it was fun to refer to him as 'kid', mostly because he hated it. She pushed the random thought away as she focused back on him, since Ana had come back Charlie had been in such a good mood that her mind was more scattered than normal.

Again he nodded, bringing the box in his hand up to his chest where he held it between the index finger and thumb of both of his hands, considering changing his mind on telling them. In a quick, but gentle motion he opened the box and set it down in the middle of the table, watching as everyone's eyes drifted to the box's contents. He waited as they each processed the ring and what exactly it meant, waiting for Dean to freak out or Charlie to squeal in an overtly girly manner.

"Is that what I think it is?" Kellen questioned, slowly looking away from the ring up toward Connor, his head reeling with what was going on.

"No, it's a snake." Charlie muttered sarcastically before a wide smile took over her lips, "Of course it's what you think it is and unless this is some weird polygamy thing where Connor's proposing to all of us, I'm pretty sure he's just informing us on what he plans on doing."

Dean's face was stoic as he looked at the ring in the wooden box before him. Of course this was going to come at some point, he was fully aware that nothing was going to keep the two witches apart and frankly he really didn't mind. Connor had proved countless times how much he loved Ana, how he would do anything to protect her from the evil of the world they lived in and Dean was glad that all of that didn't fall on just him. He could have done it, but it was nice to know that there was someone there to back him up, someone with the upper hand of magic. He slowly turned his eyes back to Connor, not saying a word as he looked at the witch, trying to find the right words, but before he could the other man spoke.

"Though we may not be the technical term for a family and God knows we are anything from old-fashioned or classy, I still wanted to do this. Ana and I are soulmates, which pretty much means we're going to be together our whole lives, but as I've pointed out to her it's not completely unheard of for a Winchester to chose their own destiny and she's made it clear that she doesn't plan on following that same path. We're young and with witches weddings aren't that big of a thing, but I still want her to have it." Connor told them all, taking in a deep breath as he looked at each of them. "In a weird way I'm asking you all for your blessing. I was going to just ask Dean, but I feel like any of you has the right to speak against it if you don't think it's a wise decision."

Sam glanced over at his brother, trying to decipher the look on his face, but he wasn't quite sure if Dean was in shock or if this was just the calm before the storm. Clearing his throat, Sam looked up at Connor with a warm smile, deciding to speak before Dean had the chance to freak out. "I, for one, see no reason in saying anything against it. We've known you two are soulmates for a while now and this was bound to happen, as long as you both are happy I don't think it matters if you get married and if you do, when."

"I'm with Sam," Charlie spoke up, her smile slowly transforming to a thin line and her eyes going cold, "but you better back it a damn good proposal or so help me, I will beat you. That girl just put a stop to the Devil and the oldest archangel being released, she deserves a big romantic gesture."

Kellen shook his head, "Not too big though, she tends to get nervous in those type of situations. Last thing you want when you're down on one knee is for the girl you're in love with to have a panic attack."

Dean sat back and listened to everyone, watching how each of them were completely fine with what Connor was suggesting. "Do something small and thoughtful. She'll appreciate that way more than something huge and less intimate."

Everyone paused, turning to look at Dean, each not expecting for him to chime in on their suggestions for the proposal. "Did you say 'intimate'?" Sam questioned, holding back a chuckle as he raised an eyebrow at his brother.

"Shut up." Dean grumbled, smacking Sam on the arm while turning his attention back to Connor. "Seriously though, if I know anything about my kid it's that she'd rather it be something small and thoughtful."

Charlie suddenly stood up quickly, the wide smiled returned to her face, "Let us help you plan it! You have four of the people who love Ana more than anything and though I don't know her as well as the rest of you, I think I know enough to help put the girly stuff in this shindig."

Kellen slowly stood up from his chair and moved away from Charlie who had been sitting next to him, "I think you just unlocked a whole new level of crazy with this one." he whispered to Connor as he walked past the man who was picking the box back up off of the table.

"I heard that!" Charlie snapped, placing her hands firmly on her hips and glaring at Kellen. "Plus, I don't think it's going to matter how crazy I am when Ana is blown away by how awesome this is going to be."

"How awesome what is going to be?" Ana questioned as she walked into the room, still looking a little weak, but at least she was up on her feet. She had been awake for a few minutes before she had left her room. Choosing to take her time to change out of the tight black clothing that her soulless body deemed appropriate and trade the outfit for a comfortable pair of sweats paired with her favorite purple hoodie.

There was a brief pause before Dean smoothly stood up from the table, "The welcome back party Charlie wanted to throw you. It was supposed to be a surprise, but looks like that's out." he lied easily, moving around the table and toward his daughter to envelope her in a tight hug. "We're just all really happy to have you back."

While Ana relaxed into her father's hug Connor took the moment to teleport the box back to it's hiding place in his room, making her none the wiser to their actual plan. "How are you feeling?" he asked, watching as father and daughter slowly let each other go. She seemed to pause a moment, giving him a long look and oddly keeping her distance as she simply nodded. "Ana?" He prodded, wondering why she had yet to close the space between them and hug him the way she had hugged her father.

"I'm fine, just a little out of it. Guess this whole fusing back together thing is a little weird." Ana shrugged, knowing that she needed to get Connor alone so that she could tell him the news. Part of her considered hiding it for a while longer, as long as she could. Obviously at some point it would be hard to hide the growing bump of her stomach or the morning sickness that was bound to come, but maybe she could hold it off for a while longer. There was a quick rush in her head and a sensation that followed that she hadn't felt in the months that she had been in the pit. Connor, their bond was put back in place and she knew then that her plan wouldn't work. _We need to talk._ She sent the words through their bond, smiling slightly as his eyes widened as he realized that their bond was back.

"You're probably hungry. Let's get you something to eat." Connor offered, walking over to her and offering her his hand. He led her from the library to the kitchen and he was about to use their joined hands to pull her into a hug, but she moved away from him. "Ana, what's going on?"

Moving further away from him, she didn't stop walking until she had moved around the island so that it was separating them. There was no telling how he was going to react to what she had to tell him and though she obviously knew he wouldn't do anything drastic, she also didn't get her hopes up that he would be happy about this. They had decided to wait years before even thinking about having a child and there she stood, with the knowledge that the product of their love was growing inside of her. "I… I learned something while I was in Hell."

"Learned what?" He questioned, keeping himself planted in the spot where she had walked away from him. "You've never hid anything from me, then you offer to split your soul from your body without so much as a word to me and now you can't tell me whatever it is you learned while you were in Hell." His tone was filled with hurt and a little bit of anger. "Just tell-"

"I'm pregnant." She quickly interrupted him before he could get more worked up, the last thing she needed was for him to already be angry and in the middle of giving her a piece of his mind while she was trying to break the news of their unborn child.

Connor froze, mouth clamping shut and eyes growing wide as he just stared at her for a moment. "You're what?" surely he hadn't heard her right, there must have been a jumbling of words as he was ranting and she was trying to speak.

"Pregnant." Ana spoke clearly, sucking in a deep breath before she continued. "Connor, we're going to have a baby." Saying the words out loud to him made them finally sink home with her and it was as if everything was coming down around her. When he didn't respond she took the reaction to mean her worst fears and she turned to walked out of the room. Her hand flew up to her mouth as tears ran down her face, picking up her pace she hoped that she could make it out of the kitchen's second exit and to her room without running to anyone, but luck was not on her side.

"Ana!" Connor called after her once he finally realized that she had run from him. Turning to follow her out of the room, he barely made it out the door when he saw her crash into Dean head on.

Hunter's reflexes kicked in and Dean instantly wrapped his arms around Ana so that she wouldn't fall after colliding into him. "Woah, what's going on?" he asked, trying to keep her against his chest as she tried to pull away. He could feel her body shake as she cried and it was an instant reaction to look up at Connor in question as the male witch walked down the hall toward him. "What the hell happened?"

Connor shook his head at Dean, "I've got this, I'll let you know what's going on later." he stated before reaching out a hand and placing it on Ana's shoulder, using the connection to teleport both of them out of the bunker and to Ana's favorite spot to think. Though it was late afternoon in Kansas night had already set in on the country of Ireland and the moon shone brightly down on the cliff that Ana visited so many times before. She still had her back to him, shoulders shaking as she cried, "Do you not want this?" he questioned, assuming that it was the reason she was upset. When she didn't respond he moved around so that they were facing each other and though she refused to look at him, at least he could see your face. "Ana, I need to know what you're thinking. I can't help unless I know what's going through your head."

"We're not ready for this." She told him, eyes finally meeting his. "We talked about this just enough to know that this wasn't something either of us wanted for years and now it's happening. Plus we still have to worry about the prophecy, I may have kept Michael and Lucifer locked up for now, but that doesn't mean that it's the end of it with those two. Pair that with the prophecy of this child and there's not enough luck in this world to keep our family whole. Who would want to bring a baby into any of that?"

With a sigh Connor turned away from her, rubbing a hand over his face as she considered what she was saying. This was in no way good timing, Ana's points about Michael and Lucifer were solid and if they were going to have to fight of the archangel at some point it wouldn't be the safest place for either of them, let alone a baby. It all was too late to fix now though. Of course there were other options, neither of which he was comfortable thinking about. "We just have to take this one step at a time. No, this wasn't planned, but it happened and now we will find a way to move on from here."

"What?" Ana questioned, her tear filled eyes staring at the back of his head. She could sense the layer of panic under the serenity that he was forcing himself to focus on and part of her wondered how he was even keeping himself slightly calm.

"We're obviously going to have to tell everyone. Also we need to talk about your options birth wise, a lot of witches tend to use midwives in the witch community over human doctors, but we have some time to look into all of that." He started making a list out loud, knowing that it would be easier for both of them if they had an idea where to go from here. "God, Dean is going to kill me." The shock was slowly overpowering his system and his eyes went wide as he looked at her, "We're going to be parents." While he watched her, Connor could feel the fear and panic that filled her head and wanted nothing more than to make both of those feelings go away. Closing the distance between them, he stopped once he was standing in front of her and fell to his knees. "When we were in Finch dealing with the devil's gate I made you a promise while you were resting after we found out about the prophecy. I swore that I would protect you and any children we have with everything I have, just because you weren't awake to hear it doesn't mean that I won't keep it. We're going to make it through this… or at least you will, I still stand by the statement that Dean will kill me once we tell him."

His last comment made Ana chuckled through the tears and she placed a gentle hand against his cheek, "He can't get too mad, I did make it past eighteen unlike he did." she pointed out, taking in a deep breath in attempt to calm herself down. "You sure we're going to make it through this?"

Connor slowly stood up, a soft smile on his lips once he reached his full height, "We've faced a Knight of Hell together, went up against the largest gathering of supernatural beings I've ever seen, and your soul literally just got back from Hell. I think we can handle being parents."

"We're going to have to tell everyone." Ana sighed as she shook her head, "Can we not and say we did? It will be another few months before I can't hide the bump with a sweater." Her worst fear had always been being a disappointment in the eyes of those she loved and now that she was nineteen, on the verge of twenty and already carrying a child she could only imagine that disappointment was the only reaction they would get.

"Hiding it probably wouldn't be the smartest choice, Red." He placed a gentle kiss to her forehead, glad that she had stopped crying and seemed to be on the same page as him about the situation. "I think we should rip it off like a band aid. We'll head back to the bunker and tell everyone there now, then we can tell everyone else tomorrow."

Ana nodded, knowing that Connor would lend her his strength as he had so many times before and be by her side while they informed their family of the news. Either way, admitting it to her father wasn't going to be an easy task. "Alright, let's get this over with."

"You sure you're ready? We can wait a couple of more minutes." He offered, knowing that she wasn't actually ready for their task.

"No, I'm not ready, but if we don't do this now I'm going to lose my nerve." With a soft smile, she grabbed his hand and teleported the both of them back to the bunker, just outside of the library which was filled with everyone as it had been when Ana had woke up not long ago.

-A-

Dean had been instantly confused and worried once Ana and Connor had teleported out of the bunker. Part of him was worried that Connor had done something to upset her, but as he calmed down while he made his way toward the kitchen where he had been headed before he'd run into Ana, he knew that it was pretty unlikely for that to happen. His best guess was that it was something to do with her time in Hell, but that made him more worried. There was no way he could even imagine what it had been like for her, he and Sam had both experienced Hell in a much different way. Sighing, he grabbed himself a beer and made his way back to the library, not entirely sure he was ready to jump back into all of the outrageous ideas Charlie was throwing out for the proposal, but there was really no point in avoiding it. Once he was back in his seat, he focused his attention back on the topic of discussion which had thankfully passed from Charlie's plan to overtake any idea Connor had in his mind about how he was going to ask Ana to marry him to how good it was to have _their_ Ana back and how Hell must have been for her.

"She'll be okay." Kellen spoke as Dean caught the sudden appearance of both witches out of the corner of his eye. "Ana's always been tough, she can handle anything."

"Speak of the witch." Dean interrupted before Kellen could speak much further, "You guys alright?" He questioned as he actually looked at his daughter and how Connor stood next to her, a protective arm around her shoulders. Her eyes were red, redder than they were when they had left which meant that she had continued to cry once they got to wherever the couple did their talking. Dean was about to repeat the question when Connor ushered Ana into the room and something about the way both of them looked made him think something was wrong. "What's going on guys?"

"We have some news." Connor started, looking to Ana for her to fill them in. Though he had been part of the reason they were in this situation, he felt like it was mostly her news to tell.

Charlie's eyes widened, "You proposed already didn't you?! I had the greatest plan too!" she groaned, upset that none of her ideas were going to come to fruition.

"What?!" Ana squeaked, eyes growing wide as she spun to look at Connor, "You plan on proposing to me?!"

Connor sighed, "Thanks Charlie." he muttered, knowing that Ana would quickly use this as a distraction so that they wouldn't have to talk about their real news. "Yes, but that's not what's important right now." he gave her a pointed look.

Dean watched the two witches, waiting for one of them to say something, "Well if he didn't propose, what's going on?" He pushed, wanting to know what could have Ana looking so worried if it wasn't the two of them being engaged.

 _I can't_. Ana sent Connor through their bond, shaking her head as she did. They were going to be disappointed, Dean would be angry, and they would treat her differently. It was all bound to go bad once they knew.

"Ana's pregnant." Connor spoke clearly, his eyes not leaving her's. _They have to know. They love you._ He spoke to her before turning his attention to the shocked expressions of those in the room, "We're going to be parents."

All at once it seemed that all eyes were on Dean, everyone waiting for him to react in anyway, but he just sat in shock. Twice in one day he was speechless about the things happening in his daughter's life, a daughter he had barely known two years and here she was about to have a kid of her own and marry her soulmate. She was still so young, her twentieth birthday just a couple of months away, moving through life at such a fast pace. He wished he could make things slow down for her, having grown up quickly himself all he wanted was for Ana to be able to be young for just a while longer. That seemed impossible though and now they were going to have an addition to their already growing family.

Ana could see the wheels turning in her father's head, watching as his thoughts took all of his attention and he just looked at her. "Dad?" she questioned, knowing that everyone else was waiting for him to react before they said anything themselves.

"How did you find out?" He questioned, assuming that she didn't have time to take a test between waking up earlier and joining the rest of them. Of course there was always the possibility that she knew before her soul was separated from her body, but he figured that something would have happened by now to tip off her secret.

"Crowley." She answered with a sigh, "He mentioned it while I was in his throne room, fighting for my body. He made the comment that I should track my body down before it hurt my unborn child."

Dean nodded, slowly standing up from his chair, he always thought better on his feet. "Are you sure he was telling the truth? Crowley isn't below lying to get kicks out of a situation." Part of him hoped that the demon had lied, that he just wanted to mess with Ana while she was already having a rough time, but something in his gut was telling him that Crowley had told the truth.

There was the sound of wings moving through air, signalling the appearance of both Castiel and Gabriel just behind Dean. "What Crowley said is true." Cas spoke, eyes focused on Ana as he continued. "When you fell after your soul was placed back into your body I checked to make sure that you were unharmed and felt the child. So far everything seems to be going along the right path, she was perfectly healthy when I checked on her while you were unconscious."

"It's a girl?" Ana asked, placing a hand to her flat stomach, not entirely sure how to take that news.

Gabriel smiled, "Of course it's a girl, the Good line has only produced girls for years, what would make your child any different?" he asked, understanding that the witch was in shock and probably scared out of her pants at the thought of being a parent right now. Though at the beginning he hadn't been pleased by the concept of man, he now knew that many things could come out of his Father's creation and while he thought the entire birthing process was a little much, a woman creating life was a beautiful thing. The angel stopped, he had to spend less time around these damn people, they were making him all touchy-feely. Gabe shuddered at the thought and waited for Ana to answer him.

She shrugged, "I just assumed that if we ever had kids that the Winchester gene would win out and I'd have a boy on my hands." Ana looked up at her dad with a soft smile, being able to imagine her own daughter wrapping the gruff man around her little finger.

"You're pregnant." Dean said the words slowly, letting them sink in as he walked over to his daughter.

"And that's just the beginning of what's to come, bucko." Gabriel spoke up, pulling everyone's attention to him. "The meeting we had with Dad was very informative. Apparently the reason you're even with child right now is because things have changed on the playing field."

Ana felt dread fill her system, of course what small amount of joy she felt toward the growing child in her womb would be destroyed by the fact that said child was only there because something had gone wrong. "What exactly has changed?"

Castiel looked at everyone, things had just gotten better for his wayward family and now they were about to fall toward the worse. "Our Father has found the one who started the spark that ignited the flame of the idea to release our brothers. Unlike we had thought the source is an angel not a demon."

"Which angel?" Dean demanded, fed up with having to deal with those prick angels, at least he knew he had two he could trust.

Gabe huffed a dramatic sigh and moved to sit down in a chair at the table, "Gadreel. Though he's not the brightest angel there ever was, he is dead set on his mission to release Michael and Lucifer."

"What does Ana being pregnant have to do with any of this?" Connor moved closer to his soulmate, feeling the need to protect her even now when they were surrounded by family.

"Let's just say that you're going to need the extra power boost that the kid is going to give you to finish off this one, Princess." He spoke to Ana, his eyes holding hers to gauge how she was taking this information. "If Dad is right about what he thinks is going to happen, which he normally is, we're going to need all of the help we can get."


	50. Chapter 50

**A/N: TA-DAAA! Chapter fifty ladies and gentlemen! Who's excited?! So sorry about the delay on this one. I'm a part time dance teacher and to say that competition season is hectic would be an understatement. I've got the next few chapters in the works so hopefully I won't fall as far behind as I did with this one. Anywho, in honor of this being the big 5-0 I decided to take a different spin with this chapter by following the "dark side". Feedback on how you like it would be much appreciated. I hope you enjoy it :)**

Gadreel. The name translates to 'wall of God', which seemed rather fitting for the most trusted angel of God seeing as how he was given the mission to protect his Father's most precious creations. To keep them safe from evil, to protect their paradise like a wall. That mission had been one he had failed miserably and had spent hundreds of years imprisoned in Heaven's dungeon mulling over. Centuries passed seeing only the four same walls and the face of the sister who was instructed to keep watch over the dungeon, though as far as Gadreel knew he was the only one of their siblings that she was tasked of keeping an eye on. Laylah had never been high up on the list, if one could even suggest there was one, but with the archangels sitting at the top and those such as Gadreel who were given important tasks there were few who fell toward the back of the group. Those angels, though known by each and every one of their siblings, were normally given remedial tasks which was how Laylah had ended up being Gadreel's only privy from the endless silence he was frequently surrounded by. Over years of it basically being just the two of them, conversations slowly morphed from simple topics such as how things were going in the rest of Heaven, what had happened to Lucifer and the demon he had created just before his ascent into the place called Hell that their father created specifically for him, to a topic that Gadreel had been contemplating for a large portion of his stay in his prison.

His plan was simple, he wanted revenge for the wrong that had been done to him. Had Father directed him to protect his creations? Yes. Though if those creations were so precious to God then he should have kept a better eye on his second eldest son. No, this wasn't entirely Gadreel's fault and he full heartedly believed that. Thankfully Laylah would bring him news after the few times she left the dungeon, part of her position still required her to be aware of what was going on within the rest of Heaven to assure that she and every other angel would be prepared to aide in any and all trouble they came across. After Lucifer's falling things had been relatively quiet for so many years, giving Gadreel time to plan and consider his options with how he was going to get out of the dungeon, to gather a following, to release Lucifer in hopes that his brother would grant him mercy when his anger took over their Father's creation. The day that Sam Winchester released Lucifer from his cage had been his first chance to set his plan in motion. Though Lucifer was already free, if Gadreel could make his way to Earth and help his brother convince the human to allow Lucifer to enter his vessel, maybe that would be enough to gain pardon from The Morningstar's wrath. News came shortly after that Michael had taken on a vessel as well and the succession of events that happened after that flew by quickly, leaving no time for Gadreel to act on his plan. A few short years passed and Laylah came with more news, there was a third living Winchester, a descendant of the Good witch line. Every angel knew of the prophecy that intertwined their world, their Heaven and their Father with the world of witches, those who viewed the energies in the world and their pagan Gods at the same level as God. It was a sore spot for most, but Gadreel saw it as his opening to finally get the repreve he so desired from part of his family and it was clear that he was not going to get it from his Father.

Laylah had been surprisingly easy to convince, after spending so much time with Gadreel she began to see the flaws in their Father that he spoke of and it was easy to morph the anger she felt at being left to watch over the mostly empty dungeon into an almost hatred toward the person who had given her that position. The night that the demon Barbas attempted to use the Winchester witch to unite all realms on Earth had been the night they began to set their plan in motion, but it was quickly stopped by the call of Laylah's presence near the gates of Heaven, they would need every last _trusted_ angel to stand against the demons should they crash to the Earth. The gathered angels turned their attention to the land below and watched as the young witch rid the world of that particular issue, Laylah had learned many things that would help in her brother's plan that night. Reporting back to Gadreel that the Good witch was working with a Mohr witch meant that their suspicions about the prophecy had been correct. When Ana had encountered Gabriel for the first time and restored his grace to full power, it had been enough of a distraction for Laylah to release Gadreel from his prison and for both angels to fly to the two moved quickly after that, forming strategies to gain the allies that they would most likely need if they were to make it past the Winchester hunters, the two witches, and the pair of their brothers who seemed rather attached to the family. The prophecy did state that Michael would fall and that due to that he would become an evil force. Now all they needed to do was release that force, gaining pardon from both of their older brothers and aiding in the destruction of the human race.

Looking back at it Gadreel could see that their plan was flawed, neither he nor Laylah had been prepared for the strength that the witch and her soulmate would have. It was that fact that left Gadreel continuing to lead those who followed him single handedly, both angels and demons alike. Laylah was dead because they had gotten too far ahead of themselves. Ana did need to be taken out of the picture, but rather than killing her quickly and eliminating the threat in their way, his sister wanted to torture the witch; impatience had been her downfall. It was that underestimation that had him thinking back to the first time he had ever underestimated anyone and how it had led him to that exact point in time.

-G-

Time on Earth passed in a way that made each day seem like it had already happened before or maybe it was just the fact that he had stood at his station for so long that they seemed the same. The Garden of Eden was a sacred place, the singular place on Earth where the human populace began to grow. Gadreel was aware of the importance of his duty to the Garden, to Adam and Lilith as their holy protector, and it was because of that reason that the angel was constantly focused on everything that was going on around him. From the Garden itself to the area surrounding it, he was on constant watch for anything evil that would harm his Father's creation.

That day had begun just like any other; the rising of the sun, the birds chirping within Eden, the humans waking from their slumber, though there was one change. Gadreel could sense a presence heading toward the paradise he was to protect and since he had not been informed of any of his siblings coming to the Garden he took up a battle stance. He raised his angel blade in anticipation for the assumed oncoming attack, though he faltered slightly when he caught sight of the angel flying to meet him on the ground. There was no secret that Lucifer held a deep seated dislike for their Father's latest creation and it was concerning that he chose to visit the thing he seemed to hate. "Lucifer, why have you come?" Gadreel inquired once the archangel had landed softly on the ground.

The Morningstar smiled, moving his arms so that were tucked behind his back and underneath his wings, "Ah, Gadreel, isn't it obvious? I've come to see the humans."

"You have made it very clear that you distaste them." Gadreel began, angel blade still raised as his eyes focused on his brother's every move. "You cannot expect me to believe that you come here ready to suddenly accept Father's instruction and bow before them."

Lucifer shook his head, his feet firmly planted on the ground as he tried to not be seen as a threat. "No, I do not plan to bow before them. I simply wish to study them, to take the time to try and see what Father believes is so amazing about these humans. How can I be expected to change my view of them if I am not allowed to be given the time to understand them?"

Gadreel studied his brother, he seemed sincere in his mission to understand the humans and who was he to tell his older brother no? Father would be greatly upset if Gadreel had been the reason that Lucifer continued to argue against the begins in question and if this was what the elder angel needed to do to come to terms with God's order than it was a request he could not argue against. "I will grant you entrance, brother, do not make me regret this." Lowering his blade the protector of Eden stepped back and allowed Lucifer into the Garden, hoping that his brother would change his mind after watching the simple creatures for a time.

"Thank you, Gadreel. I will not forget your kindness." Lucifer bowed his head slightly toward his brother before entering Eden, a sly grin taking over his face once he was no longer facing the naive angel. Oh, what a grand time he was going to have with his Father's new creation. Once he was further in the Garden his eyes landed on the two humans, taking a moment to actually study them as he told his brother he would. Gender was a strange thing, he contemplated as he studied the form of the man and woman. The thought that their body parts somehow managed to make reproduction happen within the species was something Lucifer was slightly disgusted by. Refocusing his thoughts, he made himself invisible to both beings as he moved closer toward the female, Lilith, ready to set his plan in motion.

The simplicity of what Lucifer needed to do was the brilliant part of the whole plan. Though many of his brothers and sister were not aware of how far the Morningstar had already fallen, it had become quite clear to the archangel himself just how far from their Father's path he had strayed and how much further he was willing to go to see the human species completely destroyed. There was still time for that, the first step would be on a much smaller scale. Patiently waiting for the moment to strike, Lucifer kept near Lilith until Adam became distracted and moved quickly. Placing a hand on the woman's shoulder he focused his grace to calm her mind before shoving his arm into her body, touching her soul, using his hatred and anger to taint the pure being his Father created into something much darker.

God quickly discovered what had been done, though He hadn't been paying as much attention as He should have been with Lucifer acting the way he was, He felt the moment that Lilith's soul had been corrupted. Moving all of His attention to Eden, God looked for signs of his once cherished son, but there was no sign of Lucifer anywhere just the taint he had left on the woman's soul. Seeing that Lilith was now completely corrupt of the being that He had created her to be, He banished her from the Garden. After the first human woman left the paradise God went to work creating a new companion for Adam, still focusing on the plan of these humans procreating. It did not take long for Eve to come into being and once she had He took the time to speak with both humans, explaining many things, but the most important among them was that they should not eat the forbidden fruit.

Gadreel had not found out what had happened until Lilith left Eden, the evil that corrupted her soul and the presence of his Father signalling that something had gone terribly wrong after Lucifer had entered the paradise. Moving into Eden, its protector watched as God made Adam another campion and warned both humans of what He expected of them. Once that was finished God appeared outside of the paradise, waiting for Gadreel to meet him as his son would be able to sense his presence. Leaving the Garden the angel knew that his Father would be displeased with him, it was after all his fault that Lucifer had even gotten inside of the paradise that Gadreel was tasked to protect. The sight of God standing just outside of the Garden, expression stern, was the only sign the angel needed to know that his Father was more than just unhappy with him, God was angry. "Father."

"Explain how Lucifer was able to get passed you." God demanded, not even bothering to greet his son with anything other than the anger he felt. Gadreel had been made fully aware of the task he was given and somehow the angel had failed it.

"Lucifer appeared, wishing to be granted entrance to study the humans. He explained that he wished to understand them in hopes of seeing them as You do." Gadreel explained, closely watching his Father's expression as he spoke. "I had not realized that he had already strayed so far from your path and held hopes that by watching the simple creatures, he would be able to accept them. I feared refusing him in case it caused the outcome that already seems to be our reality. I'm sorry that I have failed you, Father."

God stared at his son for a long moment, thinking over the information that Gadreel had just provided him with. "You will not fail again. I do not know where Lucifer has gone, but you will not allow him to further ruin my plans for the humans. I expect you to be vigilant, nothing else should happen while you are their guard. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Father." Gadreel bowed his head, knowing that this would be the only second chance he would be granted. Their Father loved them all, but his temper had always been short and his forgiveness toward them was little; both of those things had grown worse since Lucifer had pulled his stunt. He waited until he could no longer feel his Father's presence before lifting his head and moving back to his station, making sure he was able to have both the occupants of Eden and the area outside of it both in his line of sight, he would not be fooled again.

If Lucifer had been any normal angel continuing to protect Adam and Eve would have been a simple task, but Lucifer being an archangel meant that his grace was more powerful than Gadreel's and that he could keep himself hidden from the lower ranking angel. Being able to do that also meant that Lucifer had been able to keep himself hidden enough from his Father so that neither God nor Gadreel knew that the Morningstar was still within the border of Eden. Watching the new female, he contemplated on his next course of action, though it was already pretty clear that he would have to concoct a way to make the humans do the polar opposite of what his Father had instructed them not to. The forbidden fruit. It was an easy way to accomplish the goal he had set ahead for himself, now all he had to do was nail the execution. The thing that Lucifer was quickly figuring out about these humans was that they were easy to compel, it took such little effort to suggest an idea into their tiny brains and for them to succumb to that exact idea.

Keeping himself hidden Lucifer made his way toward the new female, Eve, ready to put an end to these creatures so that he would no longer have to worry about kneeling before an inferior race. Once standing behind her the Morningstar simply placed two fingers to her forehead, implanting the idea that the fruit she was forbidden to eat would be the most delicious thing she would ever taste. It did not take long for her to fold under the temptation and Lucifer watched in glee as she took the first bite.

-G-

Three things happened in quick succession after Eve had disobeyed God. Father had created Hell, sending both Lucifer and the demon he had created out of Lilith to live out the rest of eternity there. Adam and Eve were thrown out of Eden, the paradise left empty as the humans were left to continue their lives on the plain Earth. Lastly, Gadreel was sent to live out the rest of time in the dungeons of Heaven. Thinking back on what had happened so long ago the angel now knew how naive he had been to trust his brother, to think that their Father, who would later abandon them all together, would put in enough effort to protect the creatures he had created from his second son. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence that Gadreel would look back on his days of protecting the Garden and how, as he pushed forward with his plan to release the evil that was his two older brothers on the Earth, that this mission involved the very descendents of Adam and Eve.

"Sir, there's been an interesting development with the Winchester witch." The voice brought Gadreel out his of thoughts and back to the present where his ongoing mission seemed to only grow more difficult. Turning to look at the angel and demon who stood in the room that he had been using as an office, he signaled for the one who had spoken to continue doing so. "The allies that we have in Hell have been in contact," his brother Oriel began, "while in a meeting with their King they were interrupted by Anastasia. It seems that the witch's soul is no longer in her body."

"We also have had reports of a presence other than your brothers' at the cage, but no one has been able to get close enough to it to determine what it is." Helen, the demon, continued. The pair had been promoted to Gadreel's lieutenants when Laylah had died. "The logical conclusion is that somehow the witch's soul is near the cage and is doing whatever it is she can to prevent us from releasing Michael or Lucifer. Honestly, I think we should kill her and get it over with. We stand a chance of actually releasing both of them without her in the picture, Sam and Dean would be cake to get past if it weren't for Ana."

Gadreel shook his head, "It's not just the Good witch that we have to worry about. Not only is she extremely powerful on her own, but paired with her soulmate and how protective Gabriel and Castiel are of her…" he paused, heaving a sigh, "It is highly unlikely that we will make it out alive should we go up against her now. We have to bide our time." He instructed, not really caring about who died while trying to serve his cause, but knowing that if he lost more bodies it could diminish the chance of him reaching his goal.

The angel and demon were both silent, sharing a glance before looking back to their leader, "What would you like us to do now, brother?" Oriel questioned, thinking that they still needed to do something. They would never accomplish anything if they just continued to wait for what his brother continued to call 'the right time'.

"I want confirmation of the information from our contacts in Hell. Helen, send a group of your people to the other side of the country. There needs to be enough of a display of violence to draw all of the hunters out of their precious bunker. If Ana is indeed soulless we may have a chance at convincing the witch that it would be more valuable for her to join our side." Gadreel began to plan, thinking of the problems they could come across as he spoke. "Once we have confirmation that they have taken the bait, Oriel will send a group of angels to aide you. We can't risk losing too many numbers, it took us long enough to get here, I won't start over again due to stupidity." He gave them each a stern look before he excused them. Keeping himself out of the direct line of fire meant that their cause would have a leader, but it also caused talk and Gadreel was completely aware of what some of his soldiers were saying. The time for him to join the battle physically would come and the anticipation for that day was slowly eating at him, sitting back and watching as others did his bidding was one of the hardest things the angel had to endure since breaking free of Heaven's dungeon. There was little chance that any fight he got into with either Gabriel or Castiel would see him victor and with both angels on the opposing side along with the witches and both Winchester brothers, if he were to go up against them now he would most certainly die.

The 'base' he had acquired to house the angels and few demons that were under his direct orders was an old estate house that sat on a plot of land near the border of Oregon and Washington. There was no one for miles around and it was big enough to keep those he needed close, while making sure that there was also enough space for the demons and angels to be separated if need be. Those occurrences were rare, the few demons that stayed there normally didn't cause any trouble and the others that fought on his side stayed with Jade in Hell to keep tabs on things. Thinking about it all, Gadreel sat down at the large wooden desk that took up most of the space in front of the back wall, thinking of what his next move should be if his plan to bring Ana over to their side failed. The door being pushed open pulled him out of his thoughts once again as he was greeted by the sinister smile of the demon who had basically become his partner.

"Did I just hear Helen correctly? You want to draw out Ana in hopes of bringing her over to our side?" she raised an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms over her chest. There were times when Jade truly wondered how the angel hadn't gotten them all killed yet.

"Yes. One of your sources came through with the information that the witch is soulless, if that is true it shouldn't be too hard of a task." Gadreel watched as the demon walked toward the desk, slowly sitting down on the edge of it as she thought over his plan. "We would benefit greatly from having her fighting on our side and the rest of her family wouldn't stand a chance without her. My brother's fighting alongside them wouldn't even counter the odds if she stood with us."

Jade turned slightly so that she could look at him, "You realize that it's never going to work, right? Those Winchesters are so dependent on their family that even if she is soulless, I doubt we could get her convinced before the others devised a plan to get her away from us."

Gadreel nodded, "That may be true, but I'm willing to take the chance that it will be a failure. It's not meant to be a fight. If there's no convincing the witch to join us than our people will be instructed to leave quickly."

"The plan is good in theory, Gadreel, but we both know that these things never play out the way we intend them to with the Winchesters." Jade pointed out as she stood back up from the desk, "I'll lead the demons who are going. Ana will likely move faster once she knows I'm among those causing harm to humans. Seems the witch has it out for me."

"In case you weren't aware, Jade, she has it out for all of us." Gadreel stated with a bored tone, something about how every demon seemed to think themselves the most valuable thing on the world was slowly going to drive him mad. "If you insist on going than I think it's wise of me to repeat myself; this is not meant to be a fight. I do not want to lose anymore soldiers."

Jade scoffed, "Like we're going to come face to face with the Winchester posse and not get into a fight." she spoke as she walked toward the door. "I'll do my best to keep those of us alive that I can, but I make no promises. I want to see Lucifer and Michael released as much as you do, I understand that losing the bodies that are fighting with us will only make that harder to do." With that said she left the room, ready to rally her troops and get this plan moving. If there was something she hated more than working with angels it was sitting around waiting for their next course of action.

Watching the door close, Gadreel was once again left alone with his thoughts. Though they didn't wander back to the days of Eden or even on how he was going to accomplish the plan he had set ahead for himself, no his mind was focused on one singular problem he was most worried about facing. Gabriel. Though out of the archangels he had been the most laid back at the beginning, word had spread quickly that the feud between Michael and Lucifer had hardened something within Gabriel, making the angel more fierce than he had been before. It was no secret that his elder brother was immensely attached to Anastasia and it was that fact that probably scared him the most. Gabriel would stand to defend her if the witch was for some reason not able to do it herself and Gadreel wouldn't stand a chance. They had to find a way to weaken the Winchesters and those who would stand with them, his army wouldn't stand a chance otherwise.

 **A/N(2): Also, I know it's kind of short, but the fact that I haven't posted anything in two weeks is killing me! I promise that I'm going to try to get the next chapter up within a week and that it will be longer than this. Thank you for having patience with me :)**


	51. Chapter 51

**A/N: Hello lovelies! For this chapter we're going back to the main focus being on our favorite Winchesters. Quick shout out to… EVERYONE! Whether you're a new follow/favorite or you've been keeping up with this story from the beginning, I just wanted to thank you all so much. :) I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

After finding out that they were dealing with an angel led army rather than a demon led one, everyone separated to their own rooms. So much had happened in the span of one day that they all needed time to process the information. Ana was pregnant, Connor was at some point going to propose, and the fight with the demons and angels who stood against them was nowhere near over. The information was a lot to take in, more than Ana was ready to process, but all she could think about was the growing human inside of her and how tomorrow the plan was to teleport to Montana to let her family there know the news before things got too crazy and she forgot. There was still so much that they didn't know about Gadreel and what he was planning to do and they wouldn't know until the group acted out again. Waiting sucked. Waiting for something to happen for them to fight against, waiting for her family to actually react to her pregnancy announcement, waiting for the fact that she was pregnant to sink in. Gabriel had stopped her shortly before she had left for her room, wanting to check on her and the baby even though Cas had said they were both fine. When he was assured that everything was as it should be, he told Ana that she was almost a month along; estimated due date was the beginning of November.

Sighing, Ana covered her eyes with her hands, her mind still racing with all of the stuff that was going on. Thankfully Connor hadn't argued with her when she suggested that they both take some time to process everything on their own. That had been about two hours ago and she knew that her time alone would shortly come to an end, someone would come around eventually to talk to her about how she was feeling or about what happened while she was in Hell. When a knock sounded at her door the last voice she had expected to hear on the other side was her father's. "Can I come in, kiddo?"

"It's open." Ana called, moving so that she was sitting up against her headboard. She had figured that he would be upset with the recent news and wouldn't want to talk to her for a while. When Dean walked in, she waited as he softly closed the door behind him and turned back around to look at her before she spoke again. "Hey, dad."

Dean gave her a soft smile as he crossed the room and sat down next to her on the bed, mimicking her relaxed position against the headboard. "How you holding up?" He questioned, being able to see the stress and worry in the rigidness of her body.

Shrugging, she pulled her legs up toward her chest and rested her forehead on knees. "I'm doing okay, I guess. Pretty sure that none of this has actually settled in yet." Ana answered honestly, she and her father had come to a full disclosure agreement. There were no lies between them and that had helped a lot when it came to dealing with her anxiety.

"It probably won't for a while." He commented, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close. "But when it does we'll all be here for you." The one thing he regretted most in life was not being there for Stephanie while she was pregnant with Ana and he'd be damned if he let his daughter go through this without the support of her family.

"You're not mad?" She asked with a sniffle, keeping her face still hidden against her knees. The tears that were leaking out of her closed eyes were being absorbed into the fabric of her sweats.

Dean sighed, "No, sweetheart, I'm not mad." He leaned down to place a gentle kiss to the top of her head. "Life happens and apparently when God becomes part of the family somethings happen before we're mentally ready for them too. Everything is going to be alright, we'll figure this all out, you and the baby will be fine."

She sniffled again as she pulled her face away from her legs, leaning into her father's side, finding comfort snuggled against his side. "Connor thinks you're going to kill him." Ana commented softly, her eyes focused across the room.

"The jury is still out on that one." He commented, but there was no heat to his words. Dean had been slowly trying to come to terms with the fact that he would never get to have the normal father/daughter relationship with Ana that most families had. Which was why realizing that freaking out about something like Ana being pregnant and the likelihood that Connor still planned on proposing was something that wasn't going to happen. He loved his daughter with every bone in his body, but she had already basically been an adult by the time they had met and he had to accept that she didn't need him to be the angry, overprotective father. All Ana really needed from him was his love and support, both of which he would gladly give to her. Maybe in an alternate reality where he had been a part of her life earlier and they had gone through the years of her growing up together he would freak out about what was going on, but their lives were so crazy as it was. They came from a family of hunters, Ana was a witch, there was probably still the chance that they were going to face off against Lucifer and Michael again; the last thing they needed with all of that going on was to have the family divided because of something like this.

Ana turned her head and looked up at Dean, seeing the thoughtful look on his face. "You know that things are only going to get harder, that's even without this whole baby thing, and we can't let anything distract us. Which is going to be exactly what happens."

Holding her closer, he rested his chin on top of her head. "We've let other things distract us before. Plus, I see this more as something to focus on. Obviously beforehand we were fighting for our lives, for the lives of everyone else on the planet, but now we have extra reason to keep going. There's no way I'm letting any granddaughter of mine come into the world with the fear of Michael and Lucifer hanging over her head." Dean sighed, "No, we'll handle this before she's even baked fully and then things will get back to normal."

"You're being awfully sappy right now with your 'no chick flick moments' rule and all." She teased, thankful that he was letting his gentlier side through. Though she was used to her father's usual personality sometimes it was nice to have these moments with him.

"Well, I better get used to it now. I hear pregnancy hits the full spectrum of chick flick emotions and there's still a lot of time yet before it's over." He teased back, placing another kiss on top of her head. "Moving back to less sappy topics… When are you going to tell the family in Montana?"

"Connor and I decided that sooner rather than later would be best. We're going to teleport there tomorrow and tell everyone. There's no telling what else we're going to have to deal with before we get another chance to take a trip there and I'd rather they hear it from me than somehow catch wind of it through the grapevine." Ana explained, taking in a breath to continue, but she was interrupted by the sound of a knock on the door. "Come in, Connor." She called, being able to sense who it was.

Dean watched as Connor slowly opened the door, pausing a moment to take in the father and daughter on the bed before he continued into the room. "I didn't mean to interrupt, but I just got a call from Niall. The Council is asking for our assistance."

Ana looked up at her dad, worry written across her face. Slowly pushing herself away from Dean, she stood up from the bed and walked over to Connor. "What kind of assistance? Don't they have enough witches at their disposal that they wouldn't need to call us?"

"Caoimhe specifically asked for you, which means that we're both expected to be at the next meeting." Connor paused, seeming to not want to say what he was about to. "There is a group of rogue witches rising up and they need to be stopped."

"Of course there is." Ana glanced over her shoulder at Dean who was sitting on the edge of her bed, watching the conversation she was having with Connor. "I told you things were going to get harder and I wasn't even factoring in the witches." Pausing, she turned to look back at Connor as if his words were just finally setting in. "You said a group of rogues? Isn't that highly unheard of?"

He nodded, watching as Dean stood up from the bed and walked over to join the conversation, "That is part of the reason they've contacted us. From what Niall told me they're thinking that bringing in hunters is going to be the next step and if that decision is made they want the hunters to be from this family." He directed his next comment at Dean, "You, Sam, Charlie, and possibly Garth." Looking back to Ana, he continued, "Caoimhe has faith in your trust for your family and the hunters that are there friends. They would rather work with hunters who are already friendly with some witches than have to deal with the awkwardness of bringing in complete strangers."

Dean's brow furrowed, "Wait a minute, why would a group of witches like the Council need the help of some hunters to track down rogues?" If they were as powerful as Ana and Connor made them out to be those witches should be able to handle that all on their own.

Connor shrugged in response, "Honestly I'm not sure. Niall gave me the basics, told me when the next meeting was and asked that we bring you and Sam along before hanging up quickly."

"Who is this Niall guy anyway?" Dean questioned, it sounded like this was Caoimhe's idea, if that was true why hadn't the elder witch gotten into contact with Ana instead of having someone else do it for her.

"Connor's uncle." Ana answered, her mind reeling with the problems this could present. Now not only did she need to worry about whatever was going with the cage, but she needed to make sure that this group of rogue witches wasn't going to try to take out her last remaining witch relative and the rest of her kind. Or at least that's what she assumed would happen, there was no other reason coming to mind that a rogue witch would be dumb enough to go up against the Council. "When's the next meeting?" She questioned, her thoughts finally coming back around to the fact that there was a trip to Ireland in their near future.

Looking down at his soulmate, Connor sighed, "Tomorrow." It was clear that Ana was tired, her eyes were red from crying and there were dark bags underneath them. She had yet to receive a break since she had left for Hell and now it seemed that she wouldn't be getting one any time soon. "It's in the morning and shouldn't take long so we should be able to make the trip to Montana in the afternoon."

Turning to her dad, Ana sighed, "Will you tell Sam, Kellen, and Charlie that we'll be teleporting everyone to the Council in the morning? Might as well bring everyone since it sounds like we may need all of the help we can get."

"Sure, kiddo." Dean wrapped an arm around Ana's shoulder and kissed her forehead. "That is as long as you do something for me in return?" He cocked an eyebrow at her, knowing that the idea that had just surfaced in his head was something they could both use.

"Depends…" She answered hesitantly, sometimes the things her father asked for could be weird if not completely disgusting. Though if it was disgusting he was normally just kidding and bringing it up to get a rise out of her.

Dean smiled softly, "Don't make any plans tomorrow night. We'll hit this meeting, you two can make your trip to Billings, and then you and I are going to do something after dinner. Deal?"

Ana took a moment to think about it, watching as Dean slowly made his way toward the door of her room. "Alright, deal. Make sure everyone knows that we'll be leaving pretty early." He only nodded as he walked out of the room, leaving the two witches to themselves.

"While we're there tomorrow I think we should talk to one of the midwives." Connor basically spat out the words. He hadn't been entirely certain that he wanted to bring that up, but he saw no problem in figuring out what kind of medical practice they were going to use for Ana's pregnancy.

The redheaded witch furrowed her brow at him, arms crossing over her chest, "I thought we had time to decide all of that? Plus, didn't you say that human doctors were an option too?" She questioned, using her powers to close the door that her dad had left partially open. This conversation wasn't going to be a short one and she assumed that Connor wouldn't be leaving her room that night.

"Of course it's an option, Ana." He sighed, watching as she turned away from him and moved toward her dresser to get ready for bed. "I'm not saying that we'll immediately decide if we're going to stick with Iona, but I think that it would be a smart move to start talking to doctors and midwives or whatever else you might consider so we can figure this out early."

Ana paused as she was pulling off the shirt she had been wearing, "Iona?" She asked, pulling the shirt the rest of the way off before replacing it with an oversized Metallica shirt that she had stolen from her father. "I'm assuming there is more than one midwife in the Council, but you already know which one you'd like to speak with first?"

Taking in a deep breath he moved to sit on the edge of her bed, wondering to himself if her entire pregnancy was going to be like this or if she was just being difficult because she was stressed and exhausted. "Iona is part of the Calhoun line from Scotland. Her family is close with Niall and I think you'd like her. She's just a little older than me and has shown promise with healing magic since she was young." He paused, watching turning his head to watch her slip out of her sweats. "Ana, there can be so many complications with birth that I want to be certain that you're getting the best care. Whether that's with a witch midwife, a human one, a human doctor, or whatever other options there are."

Turning around she looked at her soulmate, the man she loved, as he watched her with eyes filled with worry. "Do you honestly think that Gabe or Cas would let anything happen to me or our child during labor?" She walked over toward the bed, taking a seat next to him and grabbing onto his hand. "I happen to know for a fact that both of those angels would let very little get in their way of making sure that both of us make it out of that, but you're also not wrong. Figuring this out now may be the best decision, we're most likely going to be too busy with the cage or these rogue witches to try to decide later. If you trust Iona, then I'll meet her tomorrow."

Connor let out a relieved sigh, glad that she understood that he was just trying to be prepared. "So I was thinking while I was in my room-"

"About something other than convincing me to meet with your midwife friend?" Ana interrupted, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Yes, about something other than that." He answered, not even bothering to comment on the snarkiness in her tone. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he hugged her close, "I was thinking that since we know the gender so soon maybe we could start talking about names?" He questioned, moving his arm so it sat around her middle and he could touch the side of her still flat stomach. "I think calling her 'the baby' or just using pronouns for the next eight months might drive me crazy."

Ana laughed softly, of course he would be thinking about something like that. "If I didn't know better I would say that you're a little excited about this."

Her tone suggested that she was teasing, but Connor could see the fear hidden in her eyes. She was worried that he was unhappy about this situation even after the discussion they had on the cliffside. "I am excited. Ana, I was fine with waiting, it seemed like the logical thing to decide on when we talked about it last, but now that we don't really have an option I'm starting to think that maybe this is better. Yes, we're young and the world is a mess, but who's to say that it won't be a mess in the next few years as well. If we were to continue to wait until the right time there would be the chance that the time would never come and we would never have children. So I'm not going to be upset about this because it happened when we weren't ready, we probably will never actually be ready for this, I doubt most parents are ever." Moving his free hand to place his fingers under her chin, he turned her head so that they were looking into each other's eyes. "I have you, the love of my life, my soulmate and now we're going to have a daughter. If that's not something to be excited about then I'm not sure what is." Leaning forward he pressed his lips against her's in a soft kiss.

Smiling against Connor's lips, she only pulled away when she had to yawn. "What time do they want us to be there tomorrow?" It really didn't matter other than making sure they weren't late, she wasn't going to be ready to wake up in the morning either way.

"Niall said that they'll be meeting about three in the afternoon so we should leave just before ten our time." He explained, moving to stand up. "Which means that you can get a good night's rest before we have to worry about anything else. So scoot back and get comfortable, I'll tuck you in."

"You'll tuck me in?" Ana questioned, turning and crawling toward the top of the bed. After pushing all of her blankets back she laid down on her pillow, "Does that mean you're not staying with me?"

He gave her a sad smile as he watched her settle down, grabbing her blankets and pulling them over her. "I wasn't aware that we were allowed to be in the same room again for something other than talking about what's going on tomorrow."

Looking up at him, she frowned, "You know that I wasn't trying to keep you away from me with all of that." She told him, being able to feel through their bond that he was hurt by the fact that she hadn't let him come with her after they had left the library earlier. "I needed time to think Connor. I knew that coming back from Hell was going to be hard, but I didn't think that I would be dealing with pregnancy on top of that." Moving over, she cleared the side of the bed that he normally took so that there was room for him to lay down. "I don't think I'll make it through the night without you next to me." Talking about her time in Hell brought those memories to the forefront of her mind, being able to push her pregnancy worries away now that she had thought about it again. Ana didn't expect to deal with the horrible nightmares that her father and uncle had after their return to Earth, but she also didn't think that her nights would be just like they were before she had left. She hadn't been physically tortured, both angels had still been securely locked in the cage while she was working on it, but that didn't mean that neither angel refrained from torturing her mentally.

Connor didn't say anything as he laid down next to her, not being able to even grasp what he could say to make her feel better, he doubted that there were any words that could do such a thing. So instead of talking, he fixed the blankets over both of them and then pulled Ana in close, holding her tightly in hopes that something in his presence and touch could battle off the possible nightmares she would have. It didn't surprise him that she quickly fell asleep, the unconscious state she had been in the night before doing nothing to rest her body and mind like they needed to be. The sound of her gentle breathing and the reassurance that she was safe in his arms was enough to lull him to sleep as well, his body needing to make up for the lack of sleep it had lost while her soul had been in Hell.

-A-

The next morning found everyone in the bunker standing in the library as Connor and Ana gave them a quick rundown of what to expect once they got to the castle that the Council held their business out of. "We're not entirely sure of the situation, I'm assuming that they're going to give us all of the details while we're there. Since this rogue witch problem seems to be rather large I wouldn't be surprised if the place is busier than it normally is, the Council will most likely have decided that the extra protection is need so don't be surprised if there are witches everywhere. I promise that those allowed into the castle are much like Ana and myself, there is no need to worry about any of them attacking you."

"Plus, no one is going to want to piss of one of the most powerful witches my line has seen and once they're all informed I'm pregnant they'll hopefully be smart enough to not anger the beast." Ana chimed in with a soft smile. "Alright, we should probably leave." She looked at her dad, "I know teleportation isn't your favorite, but you're going to have to take one for the team."

Dean frowned, "Let's just get this over with." He grumbled, knowing that teleporting didn't make him feel the same way flying with Cas did, but it still wasn't something he was a fan of.

Ana and Connor clasped their hands together, holding their free hands out toward the two people closest to them. For Connor that was Kellen and for Ana it was Charlie, both of which took the hand of the Winchester brother next to them, Sam and Dean holding hands closed their circle making it easier for both of the witches to teleport the group of six out of the bunker outside of Lebanon, Kansas into the large meeting room of the castle the Council worked out of in Ireland.

"Anastasia!"

The voice put a smile on the young witch's face as she turned to see Caoimhe across the room. Each woman walked toward the other, meeting in the middle, and they embraced each other in a small hug. They hadn't spoken since they had first met, but it was hard for Ana to not like the elder witch, the woman was family and that was something Ana was ready to trust. When they pulled apart she turned to look over her shoulder, "I hope you don't mind, we brought a couple more hunters other than just my dad and uncle."

"That's wonderful," Caoimhe's Irish accent thick as she looked over Ana's shoulder to see that Niall had already made his way over to the group to talk to Connor and the hunters, "we're going to need as much help as we can get and any hunter that you approve of is welcome here. Now come, introduce me to your family."

Ana led Caoimhe to where she had left everyone else, giving Niall a smile as greeting, "Everyone, this is my great aunt Caoimhe. Caoimhe, this is my father Dean, my uncle Sam, my close friends Charlie and Kellen." She pointed each person out as she introduced everyone. "I'm assuming you introduced everyone to Niall already?" The question was aimed at Connor which she received a nod in answer to. "Good."

Caoimhe studied each of the hunters that Ana had brought with her, stepping forward to talk with Dean after she was content with whatever assessment it was that she had made of the others. Taking a moment, she seemed to study him more closely before turning back to Ana, "This one could use a good aura cleansing, he's a ball of stress." She commented, causing the Ana to stifle a laugh.

"This one has a name." Dean commented, pulling something similar to what his brother's bitchfaces looked like. "And my aura or whatever is just fine."

"Stubborn." Caoimhe clicked her tongue and shook her head as her attention moved to Charlie. "I like her." She commented again toward Ana, grabbing Charlie's hand and giving it an affectionate pat. "You should keep her around."

Dean grumbled as Charlie gave him a wide grin, knowing that the witch commenting on how he needed to stress less was rubbing him the wrong way. "See, Winchester, stress less and people will like you more."

Ana laughed, being able to tell that her relative was just poking fun at her father. "Calm down, dad, Caoimhe's just teasing." She explained, her attention being pulled away from the entertainment of her family by the sound of the large wooden doors opening. The room that was empty except for the group of people that they had brought and the nine witches that held the chairs of the Council was quickly filled by about twenty other witches. "I guess that means the meeting is starting."

"It is that time, dear." Caoimhe smiled at Ana softly. "Everyone else here is already aware of the situation. Though they'll have say in what steps we take next, this is more meant to make you and the rest of your family aware of what's going on." She explained before moving to take her place at the long wooden table.

The witches that had come through the doors took their seats in the long wooden benches that looked similar to church pews, leaving the first row free for Ana and her family to sit in. Once they were all seated, the male witch that had first addressed Ana her last time in the gathering hall stood and began to speak in an accent that she couldn't place.

"As we discussed yesterday the hunters who are kin to Anastasia Winchester of the Good line have been asked to join us today." He addressed the whole room before looking directly at those sitting in the first row, "We thank you for coming. Though we normally take care of our own problems some of the problems we've come across seem like they have just as much to do with all of you as they do with us." The man pushed a hand through his short, curly blonde hair, his brown eyes still fixed on those he was speaking to. "These rogue witches have recently unified under one cause, making it more of a danger for us to stop them and if our information is correct infinitely more dangerous for the world."

"Our sources believe that these witches are working in league with those who plan to release Lucifer and Michael from the cage that they are captured in." A woman's voice spoke up from the end of the long table. As she stood up Ana could tell that this woman was the youngest among those who sat with her, "It seems that our two separate problems have become one."

Caoimhe sighed, leaning back in her chair as her eyes focused on Ana, "This is why we have asked that the rest of your family join us today. No one understands the gravity of this possibility more than you do." She aimed the last part at Sam and Dean, "Harald and Valera present you with the information that we have, which granted isn't much, but it has become a full Council decision that we must work together to put an end to all of this."

"Only going to get harder." Ana spoke softly to her father before she stood up, ready to get to business. "No offence, but we can cut this formality stuff out. If we're going to be working together it's going to have to be all of us, not just the nine of you and my family." Turning around, she addressed the witches behind her. The group was made up of people her age or older, though there was one girl that was at least a year or two younger than herself. "This effort to open the cage that holds Lucifer and Michael is being led by an angel named Gadreel, but it's obviously not just angels that we're up against. He has demons and other creatures working with him, adding these rogue witches must have been his latest step."

A man who looked to be close to the same age as her father spoke up, his British accent filled with worry. "How can we be expected to live if that's what we're going up against? Witches fighting other witches isn't an unheard of matter, we've been keeping track of our rogue witches for centuries, making sure that if they do not follow us that they at least stay in line. Demons? Angels? We've never been up against anything like that."

"Elliot has a point. I'm not saying that we aren't going to fight, but there isn't much hope of winning since none of us have experience in anything like this." Another woman spoke, her olive skin matching that of one of the men who sat at the Council leader's table.

Connor stood up, moving to Ana's side, "Andrea, Elliot, though I understand that this is nothing like the Council has dealt with before, winning isn't impossible. Ana, Dean, Sam, and Charlie have fought against all of these things before and though Kellen isn't an actual hunter, he's close enough that he can assist us as well. Everyone here is a direct descendant of one of the nine most powerful bloodlines of witches that our kind has ever seen, with the help of the knowledge these hunters have I believe that we stand more of a chance than anyone else."

Ana smiled at Connor, glad that he had stood up to try to calm the worry of those around them. "We have two close friends who know more about angels and demons than probably anyone, I know that they'll be willing to help as well. The only thing that shifts the balance of whether we live or die is knowledge. You need to be taught how to kill demons, angels, and other creatures we could come against in this fight. Which is assuming another reason my family is here."

"The hunters were asked to come and help in anyway they can." The younger woman who had spoken earlier moved around the table and joined the rest of the people in the seats, her Russian accent finally registering in Ana's head. "I am the last Konstantinov descendant left and it will be a cold day in Hell that I let my line end completely with me. So we're going to learn from the Winchesters. We're going to combine our efforts and fight against these witches, who are our responsibility, and try to put a stop to either angel from being risen from their cage." Valera turned to look at Ana, "You are proof that witches and hunters can work together, that we can each be more than just one of those things. In this time we are all both, if we do not fight as one we will not make it out of this alive."

A silence set in as everyone thought on the words that Valera had said and that silence would have probably last longer had it not been for the small grunt Ana released as she clutched her head. Connor didn't even pause to question what was happening, he just placed his arms around her and directed her back toward her seat. He watched as her eyes squinted shut and he turned his gaze toward Dean to see that the man had a worried expression on his face similar to the one that Connor assumed he had himself. The witches around them began to quietly talk among themselves as those who had experienced this before just sat and waited for Ana to come out of the vision so that she could explain what she saw.

"Strange." Caoimhe spoke softly as she walked over to where Ana sat, "She's come into her full power and she still has the visions."

Connor nodded, "They don't come as frequently, but when they do it's never anything good." He explained, pausing as Ana gasped and opened her eyes.

No one spoke as they waited for Ana to readjust to seeing the real world, those who had watched her go through this before knowing that it could take some time. "Demons. A group of them ransacking a town on the coast."

"Right now?" Dean asked, moving so that he was sitting closer to his daughter. He had seen many reactions come from her vision, but Ana visibly shaking had never been one of them.

She shook her head, "No, but soon. The next couple of days tops." Pausing, she met Connor's eyes with tear filled ones of her own. "It's going to be so bad." Taking in a deep breath to try and steady herself. "Gabriel!" Ana called, knowing that the angel would answer her without fail.

There was the sound of wings off to the side, "We've been watching their movements. There's a group of roughly fifteen moving toward the east coast. Cas and I have been trying to retrace their tracks back to wherever they came from, hoping that Gadreel is there as well, but we haven't been able to get very close. Cas is still watching them, if their movement is sign of anything whatever you saw will most likely happen tomorrow."

Ana gave him a curt nod before turning to look at Caoimhe, "We need to deal with this before we can do anything further with the rogue problem. The amount of people who will die if we don't is far more than I'm willing to sacrifice."

"You're given these vision for a reason, Ana." Caoimhe gave her a small, proud smile. "Take care of these demons, keep those people safe, and once you've done that we can continue to plan our next move. We'll monitor the witches until you return. Do me one small favor?" She questioned, waiting until Ana nodded to continue, "Be careful, that babe in your womb will carry on two bloodlines of this Council, can't take any risks."

Ana smiled, of course Caoimhe knew that she was pregnant, most witches probably would if they paid close enough attention. She assumed that since the two of them shared blood that it made it somehow easier for the elder witch to sense it. Moving her eyes from the witch to the rest of her family, she took in another deep breath before standing, "We need to be ready. Gabe, once you have a location we'll move out. Looks like we're going on a demon hunt."


	52. Chapter 52

**A/N: Hey guys! *Insert usual new chapter mumbo-jumbo paired with a declaration of my undying love for all of you followers* Alright, onto something I would love feedback on. So as a reader of some great stories on this site I love that some of the authors and/or people close to the authors have set up forms of social media to follow the story. I've seen instagrams as if it's run by one of the characters, tumblrs that have gifs and stuff that correlate with the storyline in one way or another… I was wondering if you guys would like something like that? Or maybe a playlist of songs that go with each chapter? If you're into it I'm willing to make this story a little more 'interactive' for all of you amazing followers! If not then I'll just continue to do these chapters and leave you these lovely author's notes full of my rambling. Let me know what you think! Review or private message either way works :) Also I'd love to know what you guys think of where the story is going. Enough of this garbage, I hope you enjoy this chapter! :D**

 **Awerry: Thank you so much for the review! I'm glad that you're enjoying it so far, there is plenty more to come :)**

Without wasting any time Connor and Ana teleported their group back to the bunker; Ana wanted to give everyone time to prepare and they needed proper time to make a plan. All of the hunters were ready to roll with anything, but with Connor being not much of a hunter and Kellen being brand new to even the lore they had to make sure that whatever plan they made got everyone home alive. Ana refused to lose anyone because of improper planning. Not even bothering to talk about it Connor and Ana simply agreed that any plans they had about what was going to happen in the next few days would be put on hold until the demon problem was taken care of. Talking to her family in Montana could wait along with whatever it was that Dean had planned for that night. These demons took precedence over almost everything else, the damage that Ana had witnessed in her vision was just too much for her to even consider focusing on anything else. Though Ana had the vision and was more than capable of taking over lead on this she didn't argue when her father took charge, directing everyone in their jobs to make sure that their weapons were packed in bags that could be flown or teleported easily.

"Charlie, Ana, grab as much devil's trap ammo as you can fit in a small duffle. Connor, I want you to make sure that you have that handy witch bag that you normally have when we're dealing with stuff like this stocked. Whatever you _may_ need, have it. Kellen, you can help me and Sam load salt rounds for the shotguns because I'm pretty sure we don't have enough." Dean instructed, his mind reeling with possible scenarios that they might face going up against a large group of demons. They wouldn't be caught unprepared like they were when they were at the Fergan house in Montana. "Let's move fast. The moment Gabe and Cas have a location we need to be ready to move out."

With that everyone went their separate ways. Ana and Charlie were the first to leave the library, each woman smoothly transitioning into hunter mode, their usually relaxed demeanor hardened. They walked with the power and confidence of those who had gone to war and were ready to face whatever challenge may lie ahead. The four men in the library watched as the two redheads moved out of the room, standing shoulder to shoulder. "Remind me to never piss the two of them off." Kellen commented, knowing that both women were more than capable of taking down anything that they came against.

"Yeah, like either of them would let any of us forget what they're capable of." Sam scoffed. He and Dean had met many hunters in their time, few of them being women, but of the ones they had the chance to encounter Ana and Charlie were probably some of the most lethal. Which was partially due to their training coming from the Winchester brothers, they weren't perfect, but hunting was something they were both scarily good at. It was a comforting thought to know that he and his brother passed that along to the two women.

Dean merely grunted in agreement before walking out of the room as well, leading Sam and Kellen toward the reloading room which they had set up just across the hall from the shooting range. None of them spoke as they passed the open door on their right, catching a glimpse of the redheads packing two small duffles full of pistol rounds before they veered off to the smaller room on the left. The setup was simple enough; there was a long table along the back wall that held the large reloading press and enough space to work next to it, the scale to measure out powder, and rows of ammo boxes for different calibers. On a small table near the door they kept the powders and primers, the spent brass that had already been put through the tumblr to be cleaned, the tumblr itself, and all of the other small odds and ends that went into making bullets. Thankfully making a salt round was one of the easier ones to make, the shells were always new so they didn't have to be cleaned and working with salt instead of something like buckshot made it a little easier. "Sam, you're on measuring out salt, I'll work the press and Kellen you can work on putting them in boxes." Seeing the look that crossed the younger man's face, Dean knew that he was about to get an earful for putting him on the simplest task. He held up a hand to stop Kellen before he could start, "Look, you need a crash course in everything we know about demons. That will be easiest for you to pay attention to when you're not also focusing on making the ammo."

Kellen took a moment to consider what Dean was saying before nodding, he had gotten through some books on supernatural creatures but hadn't touched much on demons other than what had already been explained to him. Since the fight that had broken out at his family's house Kellen had assumed that he knew almost everything you needed to know about killing demons, apparently that had been a false assumption. "Alright, let's get started."

Dean and Sam both moved to their stations. The younger brother would take the red shell, load it with the right amount of salt, and then pass it on to the elder who would use the press to close the excess plastic on top. They were lucky that in his spare time Dean had taken to already prepping the brass end of the round, making sure that they had a stock of shells already set with primers and powder so all they had to add was the salt and close it up. Handing over the first closed round, Dean pointedly looked at Kellen, "Salt repels demons so these won't kill them. It will make them extremely uncomfortable and to a weaker demon might force them out of the body their in if you shoot them enough, but these are mostly used to push back an attack."

"And the rounds that the girls are packing will basically lock them down, right?" Kellen asked, looking closely at the round before placing it in a box. "They won't be able to leave the body they're possessing and they won't be able to use any of their powers."

Sam nodded as he measured out salt for another round, "Yeah, they also make it so demons can't move. Which is extremely useful when you're going up against a lot of them at once."

Dean turned to look directly at Kellen, letting Sam continue his work since it would be easy to catch up. "See the hardest part about going up against demons is that there aren't a lot of ways to kill them. Angel blades, the demon killing knife, smitting if you're lucky enough to have an angel fighting with you, but other than that the best we can do is send them back to Hell. It takes a while for them to crawl their way back out, but they will."

"So what's our plan going to be with this one?" Connor inquired from the doorway where he had appeared in the middle of Dean talking. "Ana only has a rough estimate of the number we'll be going up against. Obviously we're lucky because Cas and Gabe will both be there, but if the look on Ana's face was anything to go by we may still be extremely outnumbered."

"We'll kill as many of them as we can." Dean responded, turning back to the press to continue with the work. "Pistol rounds to keep them in place long enough to gank them by other means. We'll pair off; one person with a pistol another with a shotgun, work in tandem to push them back while trapping others. Cas and Gabe can use their blades while you and Ana do whatever witchy nonsense you two normally do."

"Did you really just say 'witchy nonsense'?" Ana questioned from behind Connor as her and Charlie joined the conversation, both women keeping near the door but still out in the hall. "I'm slightly offended by that."

Dean rolled his eyes, "You know I didn't mean anything by it." He assured his daughter, glancing up from the press long enough to notice that she wasn't in his line of sight before looking back down. "Did you guys hear the plan?"

Charlie pushed herself around Connor and into the room, "Just the tail end of it. Want to fill us in on the parts we missed?" She questioned, moving over toward Sam watching him as he worked. Though she had spent some time in the reloading room, Charlie never really got the hang of the whole process, which was one of the reason neither brother would let her do it alone anymore. After the one time she had put too much powder in a pistol round and when she fired it the gun had basically exploded in her hand, breaking some bones in the process.

As he re-explained his plan, Dean and Sam picked up their pace, wanting to get as much ammo loaded as they could before they were out of time. "Charlie you'll go with Sam, Kellen you'll be with me. I think it'd be best if we completely separate into two groups so we can cover more ground." Pausing he turned to look at Ana who was leaning against Connor, "Can you tell us exactly what you saw in your vision, if I have a better idea of what we're going into I can make this work a whole lot better."

Sighing, Ana closed her eyes and leaned further into Connor's touch, that vision was not a thought she wanted to linger on. "Large group of demons in a small town. They pretty much surround the place and kill everyone they can get their hands on, torture some of them before they end them. It's gruesome and bloody, nothing near as neat as they have been recently. People sliced open from the bottom up, everything that's supposed to be on the inside coming out one way or another." She shivered and hid her face in Connor's chest for a moment, taking in a deep breath to calm herself with the familiar scent of the herbs he worked with on a regular basis, before turning back to meet her father's gaze. "We need to stop this before it can get too far."

"Which is why we have to leave." Gabriel spoke as he appeared in the middle of the room. "Now." The word was accompanied with one of the most serious looks any of them had seen on the archangel's face.

The look and the tone in the angel's voice caused everyone to act quickly; Sam and Dean finished the last couple of bullets as Connor and Ana ran across the hall to grab the bag full of the already packed ammo and the set of guns that the girls had laid out before hand. Dean began shouting out orders, getting everyone organized and ready with a semi put together plan. "Sam, take Charlie, Connor, and Gabe with you. Let Charlie man the shotgun. Kellen, Ana, and Cas you're with me." Ana and Connor walked back into the room, each carrying a shotgun and a bag of ammo. Taking the shotgun out of Ana's hands he held it out to Kellen, "Don't miss."

Connor held out the gun in his hands toward Charlie, "Where is Cas?" He asked, looking around quickly to make sure that the angel hadn't popped in while everyone was scrambling and somehow missed it.

"Keeping eyes on the demons." Gabe answered, watching as the group grabbed last minute things. "I'm going to be dropping the first group of with him, then take the rest of us to the other side of town. We're going to need to move fast." With that Gabe used more grace than he had accessed in a while and moved everyone out of the small room in the bunker to an empty street near the edge of the small town. Just as he was about to take the rest of them to the other side of town he was stopped.

"Wait." Cas spoke before his brother had the chance to fly away. "They want Ana."

Everyone paused, expressions taking on varying forms of shock, "What do you mean they want, Ana?" Kellen spoke up, moving closer to his childhood friend. Why was it that every corner they turned it seemed that Ana was in the middle of it all? Sure there was some weird prophecy based around her, Connor, and apparently the daughter they would have in eight short months, but couldn't that be the end of it? He just couldn't understand why the supernatural world was stuck on something like this.

"I'm not entirely sure what they want from her, but I've been able to pick up some of the discussions the demons are having. Her name is repeated often." Cas explained, turning his gaze on Ana, "I'm not sure that it is a good idea for you to be here."

Ana raised an eyebrow at the angel, holding back a scoff because she knew that he was just trying to watch out for her and the baby. "I'm not going to let you guys do this without me. If they think they can take me or kill me, they have another thing coming. Apparently my powers get an extra boost while I'm pregnant so I'm going to use that full power if I have to." She informed all of them with a tone that said she wouldn't be changing her mind. Either she was going to do this with them or she would do it by herself, none of them were going to stop her.

"Ana-" Connor began to argue, but Dean cut him off.

"New plan." Dean spoke up, eyes focusing toward the town. "Ana, Gabe, Sam, and I will move to the center of town. We'll draw the attention there and the rest of you can work on getting the humans around there out of the way so there's no unneeded death. We'll see what they want with her and then if it comes down to it we'll take them out."

Ana gave a curt nod, glancing at Gabe before placing a hand on her dad's arm and teleporting the two of them to the center of town. She knew that Gabe would bring Sam when he followed and that she would avoid an argument with Connor by leaving quickly. "Got a plan to draw their attention?" She questioned, giving Gabe and Sam a small smile when they appeared in front of her.

"Why don't you just do some magic? If it's strong enough they'll be able to sense it and should draw them right to us." Gabe suggested with a shrug, not sure that he was one hundred percent okay with this plan, but they were already rolling with it and he had nothing better in mind. As long as Ana stayed safe, which he would make sure of, he saw no problem with it.

"Sounds easy enough. You guys ready for this?" She questioned, noticing that Sam had traded his pistol for a shotgun, that must have been what kept them behind longer. When none of them said anything against it, Ana unleashed a wave of power that wouldn't really do anything. It was mostly a beacon, something she would have sent out if she were in trouble and had been somewhere more populated by other witches. The nice thing about not having to keep her power dampened so that they weren't instantly spotted was that she was able to sense the demons in the town and felt it the moment they began to move in her direction. "They're coming." She warned, watching as both Dean and Sam's bodies tensed up.

"Anastasia." A female voice caught her attention from behind.

Turning Ana saw Jade a few feet away from them, "Of course it's you doing this." She shook her head, watching the demon's movements and realizing that she didn't look like she was about to attack. The rest of the demons that Ana had felt in the city began to appear around them and she was able to recognize a few faces from her vision. "What's all of this about, Jade? You wanted me here and now I am."

Jade smirked, "Heard an interesting story about you being soulless, I had to come see for myself if it was true." She didn't move from where she stood and neither did any of the demons who were under her orders.

"Sorry to disappoint, but that's old news." Ana took a step forward, ignoring the soft spoken words of her father swearing behind her. "Sounds like you need to have a word with your sources." She added with a small smile. The only thing Ana could think of was the amount of damage that the demons had been ready to cause to get her attention, to draw her here so they could do whatever they had planned with her soulless self. Anger began to take over and she lashed out with her power, throwing Jade down the street a few feet. "Also, you should probably know better than to meet up with me like this." The words were spoken through gritted teeth as she held back the three demons that made their way toward her to defend their leader.

"Incoming!" Gabriel shouted, warning his group of the presence he felt heading there way. An angel appeared at Jade's side, stepping in front of her to stand in her defense. "Gadreel. Brother have you made some terrible life choices."

Gadreel looked past the witch to see Gabriel, "We only came for confirmation of the information we have received, it is not time for our battle yet." Turning his attention back to the witch, his eyes focused on her abdomen. "Seems that we'll have to move faster than I planned." He spoke offhandedly as he turned to Jade and gave her a slight nod before disappearing.

Shortly after Gadreel disappeared the demons that had been surrounding them followed in his action. "What the hell was that about?" Ana snapped, turning to the men that were behind her, hoping that one of them had a better idea of what had just happened.

"He knows about the baby." Gabe spoke, his tone filled with worry. "We need to get you back to the bunker." He added, sending a quick message to Castiel before flying the group he was with back to the bunker. Once they were in the library the angel began to pace, muttering to himself as he did. "The whole damn supernatural world will know about the baby soon enough. Dammit. This is bad. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad." He shook his head, turning to look at Ana. "We're in trouble."

Cas, Connor, Kellen, and Charlie appeared in the room shortly after the others and were met with the sight of Gabe's pacing. "What's his deal?" Kellen questioned, watching as Connor moved over to Ana to make sure she was alright.

"What trouble?" Cas addressed his brother, "What did the demons want with Ana?"

Ana sighed, "Apparently they got word of me being soulless, other than that we didn't get very far. I may have attacked Jade before we could get more answers, but then Gadreel showed up and said something about it not being the time to fight yet. Then he gave me this weird look and said something about moving faster than he originally planned."

"The baby." Cas came to the same conclusion that his brother had. "Gabriel is right, this situation is bad. There will be a lot of creatures on the side of releasing Michael and Lucifer, the majority of nonhuman races have false ideas that our brothers will help diminish the human population or somehow control it. Word of the prophecy will spread and then there will most likely be a bounty for your life and the life of your unborn daughter."

"So we go back on high alert." Dean stated with a small shrug, the solution seemed easy enough. "We keep our eyes on demon and angel activity, make sure that none of these normal monsters are acting weird, all while keeping Ana locked in here until she has the baby. Problem solved."

Ana looked at her father as if he had just sprouted horns. "You're joking right?" She moved away from Connor to move toward Dean, "I can't stay in here for the next eight months. There are rogue witches that need to be dealt with, we still need to figure out how to stop Gadreel and Jade, add that on top of the fact that there will be other hunts to do... you can't really expect me to hide here the entire time."

"Like Hell I can't." Gabriel and Dean both snapped at the same time, both men pausing a moment to give the other a shocked glare before turning back to the witch they were both trying to protect. "Ana-" they began at the same time and then stopped, taking another moment to glare at each other before Gabriel silently handed over the floor to Dean.

"Ana, if Gabriel's right you're going to be on the radar of every monster we've ever come across. The only place safe for you will be here." Dean spoke, using his stern voice. "This isn't about keeping you away from the world or you not being strong enough to protect yourself, but if you're too largely outnumbered you could get seriously hurt. We don't want anything happening to you or the baby. This is about keeping both of you safe."

Connor took a step forward and placed a comforting hand on Ana's shoulder, he could feel the anger building within her and really didn't want her to explode on her dad. "Not that I don't agree with keeping both of them safe, this rogue witch problem really needs to be dealt with. The castle we were at this morning is almost as heavily protected as this place, not only that but _if_ something were to happen she would be surrounded by the witches of the nine most powerful lines in all of Europe."

"Plus you guys will be there too." Ana interjected, feeling a little calmer now that Connor was trying to keep the peace. "They're going to need all of our help. If we don't go back to Ireland and help, there's no telling how bad this all could turn out." She stepped forward, already able to tell that Dean was going to continue to argue against her leaving the bunker. "Dad, I'm not weak. I understand that I can't keep myself protected from everything, but I'm also not going to hide from the world while Michael and Lucifer still have the chance of rising. I don't want anything to happen to me or the baby, but we have to keep fighting. This family started the apocalypse, ended it by throwing both archangels in the cage and now that they are both threatening to be set free on the Earth again it's _our_ job to stop it."

Sam listened to the argument happening in front of him, keeping his mouth shut as he listened to both sides plead their reasoning. He could understand both views. Dean was the protector of the family, he always had been, and knowing that his daughter was carrying a child that could help save the world only made that protectiveness multiply ten fold. At the same time Ana was a powerful witch and apparently being pregnant gave her more power, Sam doubted that much could harm Ana while she was carrying that child. He could understand why she didn't want to be sentenced to the bunker for the rest of her pregnancy and the rogue issues the Council was dealing with had sounded pretty bad. They couldn't sit back and do nothing while witches were rising up to aide in the one thing they all wanted to prevent. He was lost in these thoughts while Dean raised his voice, arguing that this was the safest place for her to stay, but before his brother could get too far lost in his ranting Sam interrupted, "She's right, Dean."

"What?!" Dean spun to glare at his younger brother. How could Sam be agreeing with her right now? Out of all of the people in the room he figured that Sam would be the one to understand where he was coming from, to see that Dean only wanted to protect their already small bloodline.

"Ana's right. We can't keep her locked down in here until the baby comes. There are going to be so many other things we have to go up against before this Michael and Lucifer thing is finished. Chuck said that the reason she was even pregnant now was because she was going to need the magic boost to help stop this." Sam sighed, "No child has been born into this family without some sort of purpose in life. Mom and Dad were both born to give us life, their parents were meant to be so they could create both of our parents, Connor and Ana are meant to have this baby. I highly doubt anything is going to stop that. Look, she's not going to be alone while we're helping the Council and I highly doubt that those witches would let something break into their home without putting up a fight. It's pretty much the second safest place she could be right now other than here."

Dean scowled at his brother, part of him wanting to snap and tell Sam that he had no idea what he was talking about, but honestly so much had happened lately that Dean wasn't sure if he wasn't the one who didn't know what he was talking about. Taking in a deep breath, he closed his eyes for a moment before releasing the breath slowly, "Let's just talk about this tomorrow, alright? It's getting late, if we keeping going back and forth it's going to get ugly fast." He offered, silently wondering when he had started thinking logically instead of just reacting to his emotions. Opening his eyes, they instantly met the only pair in the room that mirrored his own. It was Ana, something about being her father and handling all of the craziness that came along with that title had him trying to handle every situation with a level head instead of the usual Winchester bullheadedness and sharp anger.

No one spoke for a while, all silently agreeing that they weren't going to get anywhere productive with the fight they were in the middle of. "I'm hungry." Ana spoke up, breaking the silence with a soft whine and a pouted lip. "Can we order pizza?"

The question caused Charlie to chuckle slightly, "Pregnancy is going to be a good time for you, Little Red. You've already got the mood swings and the food cravings down, just imagine how the next eight months will be."

There was a collective groan as the group imagined living with a pregnant witch for the next eight months. "I change my mind, you can move wherever you want as long as I don't have to deal with any of that." Dean teased, hoping that by arguing against his daughter he hadn't ended up on her bad side.

Ana laughed dryly, "You're all so funny, but seriously. Pizza? I'm starving." She looked around to see if anyone was going to agree with her. They hadn't eaten since breakfast and it was getting closer to dinner the more they stood there.

"Pizza it is." Sam agreed, giving Ana a smile as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. "I'll put in the order, while you guys put our stuff up?" He questioned, pointing to the bags and weapons that had been discarded between the floor and the table.

"Sounds good to me." Kellen nodded, moving to pick up the bag of ammo he had set at his feet shortly after their return to the bunker. "You want to give me a hand with that one, Connor?" He gestured to another near Sam. Connor simply nodded, moved to pick up the bag, and followed Kellen out of the room.

Charlie stepped forward, grabbing both shotguns off of the table, "I'll get these put up." She could tell that Dean and Ana needed a moment alone to talk. Giving Gabriel a pointed look, she jerked her head to the side in a sign that said to follow her or get the heck out of the room.

Gabriel raised an eyebrow at the redheaded hunter, wondering if she understood the concept of prayer since he would be able to hear whatever she was thinking as long as she aimed it at him. "Cassie and I will do a quick sweep of the wards and what not. Just to make sure everything is as it should be just in case we were to get attacked here." He offered the lame excuse, knowing that it sounded as stupid as he thought it did.

"Why would the wardings be failing?" Cas questioned, frowning at his brother as the archangel walked over to him and ushered him out of the library.

Shaking her head, Ana watched as Sam walked toward the kitchen, placing their order and the local pizza place and conveniently leaving the father and daughter the last people left in the room. "So, that wasn't obvious or anything." She offered up, trying to break the tension.

"You know I'm just trying to protect you, right?" Dean asked, getting straight to the point. "I've seen too many bad things happen to the people I care about and I don't want you getting hurt, Ana."

"I know, dad. I really do, but you have to understand that asking me to stay in here for the next eight months is just completely ridiculous. I'm not going to spend leisure time out in the world with the possibility of being jumped by any vampire, werewolf, or djinn I come across, but what you aren't remembering is that my life was like that before Gadreel found out I was pregnant. Being a Winchester painted a giant bullseye on my back and I did just fine living in the world with that, just because this is adding on top of that doesn't mean that I won't be just as careful." Ana sighed, "I'm always careful, you taught me to be constantly watching what's going on around me, that doesn't change because I'm carrying a baby and neither will the fact that I'm going to be on a supernatural monster's wanted list."

Dean frowned at his daughter, if he argued her point they would only be going in circles and he really wanted to avoid that. Instead of speaking he walked toward Ana and pulled her into a hug, extremely proud of the determined woman she was while at the same time being extremely annoyed that she wouldn't just do as she was told. He smiled as she wrapped her arms around him, returning his hug. There were many fights down the road ahead, there would be so much that he would want to keep her out of, but at least Dean knew that when it came down to it all that they would always love each other and that thought made his smile even wider.


	53. Chapter 53

**A/N: Hey guys! So it took longer than I would have like to get this posted. Between moving and getting a new puppy (who chewed through the charging cord for my laptop) things have been crazy. Fair warning, if these next few chapters seem a little slow it's for a reason I promise. The craziness and drama surrounding this plot line will come back around full swing, so enjoy the normal with our characters while it last.**

 **Awerry: Thank you again for the review. I love knowing that you're enjoying the story :)**

"So today is the day, huh?" Sam asked as Connor and Ana entered the library. It had been a couple of days since their encounter with Gadreel and the entire family had been keeping themselves in the bunker until some of the attention died down. Apparently the news of Ana's pregnancy was spreading like wildfire and both Cas and Gabe had suggested that everyone stay within the protection of the bunker so they could monitor how the supernatural world was going to react. After two days Gabriel had deemed it safe enough for the witches to make their trip to Montana as long as they were constantly on alert. Sam watched as the couple shared a look before Ana nodded in response to his question, the nervousness she was feeling clear in her tensed muscles. "Hey," he began standing up from his chair and walking over to his niece, "everything is going to be fine. You know that Heather is going to love you no matter what." Sam pulled Ana into a gentle hug, it hadn't been hard to notice that she was already beginning to be a bit more emotional than she normally was. "Just remember that she's probably going to be shocked at first. Let her process it all before you jump to any conclusions."

"My kid? Jump to conclusions? Never." Dean muttered sarcastically as he entered the room from the hall, pausing a moment to take in the scene of his giant of a younger brother dwarfing his daughter as the two hugged. "You guys getting ready to leave?"

Ana unwrapped herself from her uncle, turning to give her dad a small smile. "Yeah, we're going to get this over with, maybe spend a little time there before we come back to get everyone for our meeting with the High Council."

With a nod, Dean leaned against the table, folding his arms across his chest as he scowled at the thought of teleporting. "Alright, just remember you and I have plans tonight." He reminded her, they had waited to reschedule until they received the all clear from the angels and now that they had it Dean really wanted to get to spend some time with Ana without either of them yelling at the other.

"I know, dad." She gave him a pointed look, he'd done nothing but mention this plan he had for the two of them and yet he wouldn't tell her what they were doing. "We should get going. Didn't you tell Kellen to meet us here?" Raising an eyebrow she glanced around to make sure that he wasn't somewhere in the room and she had just missed him.

"I'm coming!" Came a voice down the hall, followed shortly by the sounds of fast footsteps. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sleep in so late." He commented once he had joined the group in the library, "And then by the time I got to the bathroom to shower, Charlie was already in there and taking forever."

Ana rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah. Excuses, excuses." She teased with a grin as she moved to stand next to Connor. "Alright, we'll see you in a couple of hours and then we'll leave for the Council." The last words were aimed at her dad and uncle as she placed a hand on Kellen's shoulder so she could teleport him along with. "We'll be back."

"Thanks for the warning." Dean teased with a grin, giving his daughter a wink before the group of three disappeared from the room. "Now what do we do?" He asked his brother, the past few days had been filled with little research since there was nothing really going on at the moment. Dean hated that they were just waiting around, but they had no idea what Gadreel's plan was or when he was actually going to act on it. Hell, for all they knew whatever the angels and demons were working on could happen tomorrow or not for years down the road.

"Honestly?" Sam sighed as he made his way back around to the chair he had been planted in since he woke up that morning. "I have no idea. We have nothing to go off of on research, Gabe and Cas haven't been able to find anything out either, and we don't know what exactly we're supposed to be doing for the High Council." Brushing a hand through his long hair, he leaned back in his chair and looked up at his brother, "We're pretty much at a standstill."

Dean mimicked his brother's sigh and sat down in the seat next to him before letting his body sink down into it, "Great." He muttered.

-A-

"What do you think all of this is about?" The question was asked as Ana teleported the group into the kitchen of the Feragen home. She had called Heather earlier and asked her to wait for them with their close family friends. Since the entire Feragen family was an adopted attachment of the Walker and now Winchester families Ana saw no problem with telling everyone at the same time.

There was a pause before Heather responded to Monica's question, "I have no idea. I just hope they're not in some sort of monster trouble. It seems like that's been pretty non stop since Ana and Dean met."

Turning to share a look with Connor and then with Kellen, she gave a slight nod before they headed into the large living room where the rest of the family was gathered. Heather, Callie, and Gwen were the first to see them, both of the younger girls so excited to see their brother that they jumped up from where they sat and enveloped him in a sandwiched hug. Ana smiled at them as she continued to walk toward Heather, her smile widening as the familiar arms pulled her into a warm hug.

"I've missed you so much." Heather told her softly, holding onto her niece a little tighter than necessary. Hugging for a few extra minutes, she finally let go of the shorter woman and turned her attention to the young man standing off of the side, waiting patiently for the family reunion to settle down. "How are you, Connor?"

Connor pulled his eyes away from Ana, he couldn't help but keep an extra close eye on her now that she was pregnant. Their world was just so crazy and he wanted to make sure that both his soulmate and their daughter were healthy and alive. "I'm good, how have you been since we left?"

Heather smiled as she sat back down, she liked Connor, something about him complimented Ana in a way that she knew her niece needed. "Busy. Work has been a little hectic lately, but it's kept things from getting boring."

"It's killing me!" Gwen all but shouted, interrupting all other conversations going on in the room, as she quickly walked over to Ana, "You better spill whatever news you have or I'm going to go nuts imagining the worst things possible."

Ana gave her friend a wide eyed look before raising an eyebrow at her, "First of all, you need to lay off the caffeine, we've talked about this." She teased while placing a hand on her friend's shoulder, "And I'll get to my news when I'm good and ready, so you can sit down and make nice conversation or I'm just not going to tell you. Plus, I want to wait until your dad is here too."

"Which should be any minute." Monica spoke up, "He took the day off, but had to drop some paperwork off at the office so they didn't get behind on this latest project." She explained, smiling as Kellen sat down next to her on the loveseat and giving his knee an affectionate pat. "We've missed you." She told her son, "Hopefully you haven't been much of a burden on everyone you're staying with."

"Me the burden?" Kellen scoffed and waved a hand at Ana, "At least I'm not the one beating on people who were just trying to help them."

Ana rolled her eyes as everyone's attention turned back to her, "Seriously? You've had how long to freak out over what happened since I returned to normal and you wait until we're in front of the family I _didn't_ want to explain my soulless story to. Really?"

"Did you just say soulless?" Gwen asked, her voice raising in pitch toward the end of the sentence. Her eyes were wide, as were everyone else's in the room, and they were all looking at Ana as if she had just told them she had made contact with aliens.

Sighing, Ana looked to Connor for help, this was definitely not how she wanted their get together to start that day. "It was only for a short period of time." Connor explained, taking the cue from the stressed out woman next to him. "Ana wasn't in much danger and though she didn't tell anyone before she did so, she made the decision herself to help with a future problem we're most likely going to have to deal with. But that isn't why we're here today and I think we'd all do better if we focus on one thing at a time."

The sound of a door opening and closing quickly stopped the conversation from continuing and no one spoke as Hank entered the room. "What'd I miss?" He asked with a smile as he crossed the room, pulling his son into a quick hug once he stood up from the couch.

"Nothing really important." Kellen answered, returning his father's hug before pulling away so that they could get on with this. He was happy to see his family, he wasn't used to being away from them for long periods of time, but he also knew that this trip wasn't about him.

Before anyone could bring up the topic they had just been discussing Ana stood quickly, looking around at everyone as Hank sat down and once all attention was on her the words basically spilled out of her mouth. "I'm pregnant."

Four very high pitched versions of, "What?" Were screeched out as the other women in the room looked at Ana with wide eyes, something that there was no lacking of today. Connor's eyes didn't move from Ana, he didn't like that she was so panicked about telling her family this news. Of course this wasn't something they had planned, but to him that didn't give these people the right to be any less happy for them.

Heather stood up from her seat in one of the chairs in the room and walked over to where Ana stood, "Are you sure?" She questioned, glancing down at Connor before focusing her eyes back on Ana.

"When the King of Hell breaks the news, two angels confirm it, and another angel can sense it from about ten feet away…" Ana rambled, clamping her mouth shut before she could continue. "Yes, I'm sure."

"It's a girl." Connor commented, standing up and holding onto Ana's hand, he gave her a reassuring smile. "Gabriel and Castiel have both checked on the baby. So far she's healthy."

Heather placed a hand over her mouth, trying to process everything, but the only thing she could think of was the sister she lost. The sister that was determined to keep a baby she wasn't ready for and then dieing before she was able to even care for the child. With a shake of her head, Heather turned and left the room, her mind playing out a similar scenario for Ana.

Watching as her aunt left the room brought tears to Ana's eyes, her mind going through the possible reasons Heather didn't respond at all. She was disappointed, of course she didn't approve of this, Heather didn't understand the entirety of what this meant and how there was little that Ana and Connor could have done to stop this. Her shoulders began to shake, but before she began to actually cry she felt Connor pull her into his chest, his arms wrapping around her.

"Oh, honey…" Monica stood up, being able to understand what both Ana and Heather were feeling. The two elder women had been friends for years and she had known Ana since she was a baby, if anyone in the room understood both sides of this is was her. "Ana," she spoke as she walked over to the girl wrapped protectively in her boyfriend's arms, "she's just worried about you honey. You're not much older than your mother was…" she trailed off, not being able to think about Stephanie without feeling a slight pain in her heart. Stephanie had been her friend just as much as Heather before she had passed. "Just give her a little time, okay? I'll go talk to her." With a small smile, Monica turned and went toward the direction that Heather had walked in.

The thought of putting those fears in Heather's mind only made Ana feel worse. She had no fear that she would end up like her mother, but she knew that Heather didn't understand that the people in her life wouldn't let that be a possibility. Before her thoughts could linger any further, Gwen and Callie were standing up from the couch and basically pulled Ana away from Connor, circling her in a hug of their own.

"You're going to have the best baby ever." Callie told her smile, hugging her a little tighter.

Gwen scoffed, "Of course she is, that little girl is going to have the best family. She's going to absorb some of the awesome." Placing a quick kiss to her best friend's cheek, "But if you think I'm babysitting before the age of four or five you're crazy."

Ana laughed through the tears still falling from her eyes, "Oh, whatever. You're going to be so excited to dress her up that you're going to steal her from us." She joked back, her eyes turning to focus on Connor as he walked a few feet away and placed his phone to his ear.

"How's Dean feel about this?" Hank questioned from where he sat, grinning as the girls circled around so that they were all facing him. If there was something he would bet on in this world it was the commitment and love the three girls in front of him shared for one another.

"He wasn't entirely pleased at first. No parent wants their teenaged daughter to get pregnant, but when you're a Winchester and God's in the mix there's not a lot you can do when He makes a decision." Ana shrugged.

Hank turned to look at his son, "Did she just say God?"

Kellen nodded, "He prefers Chuck. Really great guy, he has a killer bread."

Ana laughed at Kellen's description, but was stopped by Connor's voice. "Ana, Valera would like to speak with you." He gave her a gentle smile as he handed her the phone, making it clear that nothing was wrong.

"Valera?" She questioned as she placed the phone to her ear, both Callie and Gwen taking a few steps back so that she could have the conversation in semi privacy.

"Ana," Valera's thick Russian accent rolled through the phone, "I'm sorry to bother you, I know that your family is due to meet with us in a few hours, but I just wanted to ask you a quick favor."

Turning her attention partially to Connor with a raised eyebrow she continued to speak into the phone, "Of course."

"Fantastic. With your family being the last remaining line of the Men of Letters you have access to books and information that we may no longer have. We'd really appreciate it if when you come later that you bring whatever information you have on witches that you think could be of use to us with these rogues."

"No problem. Sam knows that library better than anyone, I'm sure he knows where everything is at so I'll have him start working on that." Ana assured the witch on the other line. With the agreement that the Winchesters would bring what information they had that could be helpful the two witches said a quick goodbye before ending the call.

As Ana handed the phone back to Connor, Monica walked back into the living room with a sympathetic look on her face. "Heather went home, Ana. I think she needs a little more time to process this news. She'll be alright in a day or so." She assured the young woman who was visibly broken by the words she'd just heard. Not being able to hold back the question she had on her mind any longer, she looked at the young couple standing in front of her as Connor moved closer to Ana's side. "Are you two okay with this? You're soulmates, I understand that, but neither of you are very old. Are you ready for a baby?"

Feeling a familiar arm wrap around her back, Ana leaned into Connor's side with a soft smile, "It wasn't something we planned on happening for years, but we're ready. Even if we weren't, we would figure out a way to be."

"Well then, as long as you both are happy about this then so are we." Hank spoke up as he stood up from where he sat next to Kellen. "Plus, after hearing about some of the things you two have taken on I have no doubt that you'll be able to survive being parents."

With Hank's support being echoed by the rest of the family, Ana and Connor decided that it was probably best that they get back to the bunker to help prepare things for their trip to Ireland. Sam would need time and some helping hands to gather up all of the information they had on witches that could help. Saying a quick goodbye to everyone Connor and Ana teleported themselves and Kellen back to the bunker. Sam, Dean, and Charlie were sitting at the table when they appeared, their conversation stopping once the others were in the room. "I need a minute." Ana told Connor softly and left the library before anyone could speak to her.

"Went that well, huh?" Dean questioned with a sigh once Ana was out of the room. He had been hoping that everything went alright, but seeing the look on his daughter's face made it clear that it hadn't.

Connor and Kellen shared a look before moving toward the table to sit with the rest of them. "My family took it alright, but Heather left the room shortly after Ana blurted it out." Kellen explained as he sat in the seat next to Charlie. "She's having a hard time not thinking about Stephanie."

Dean winched at that, of course she was having a hard time with that, he hadn't even been there when Ana was born and he was having a hard time not thinking that the same thing that happened to Steph would happen to their daughter. "Thankfully we have things that Steph sadly didn't when she went into labor with Ana. Two angels and access to powerful witches have made the possibility of Ana not making it out of childbirth almost nonexistent."

"Heather doesn't know that though or that God himself lent a hand in making this happen." Connor rubbed a hand over his face, it had already been a long day and the day was nowhere near over. "She'll come around and when she does Ana will explain why everything is going to turn out fine."

A silence fell over the group after that, stretching out for a length of time as it seemed none of them were willing to break it. They all just sat, eyes focused in random areas of the room as they each worried internally for Ana and how she must be handling what happened with her aunt. Long minutes passed before the quiet sound of feet echoed through the room as the redheaded witch reentered, her eyes looking a little red and puffy, but the smile on her face didn't betray the hurt she must have been feeling. "Alright, guys, we need to get stuff ready to go. Sam, Valera called and asked that we bring what information we have on witches that we think will help."

"Who's Valera?" Dean questioned, not entirely happy that his daughter was once again taking after him in the form of burying her emotions, but glad to see that she was ready to continue on and not sulk on something that would most likely right itself out.

With a roll of her eyes Ana placed her hands on her hips, "She's a member of the High Council. The blonde Russian woman who was speaking before I had my vision the last time we were there." She explained, "Can we get back on topic now? I know our collection of information on witches is rather large, so it may take some time to go through and figure out which ones can help in this situation."

Sam stood up, "Over the years I've gone through and made my own system of categorizing each section." He began to explain as he walked over to the old system he used to file everything, the information was also on his laptop as a backup, but he prefered to use this method. "The cards are separated in these drawers by reference material; witches, demons, vamps, werewolves, and everything else we have information on. Each category is ordered alphabetically by title of book and then each card gives a general summary of what each book has; general information, the lore, weaknesses-"

"Damn. I knew you spent a lot of time in here, but you completely nerded out, didn't you?" Dean questioned as he stood up from the table. "I bet doing all of that work gave you a warm tingly feeling inside." He teased.

"Shut up, Dean." Sam shook his head at his brother as he opened a small drawer on one of the old, wooden cataloging setups that had to be centuries old. Flipping through cards, he began to pull out the ones that looked like they could use. It didn't take long for him to get through the whole thing, but by the time he was finished there was a small stack of index cards in his hand. "This is what we have, hopefully these will help."

Ana smiled at her uncle, loving him even more for how nerdy he could be sometimes, it made situations like these a lot easier. Even if he was constantly teased by Dean for it. "That's great. Why don't we get that all together quickly and we can leave now. No point in wasting any time and I'd rather get ahead on this rogue problem before they get the upper hand."

Everyone took a couple of cards from Sam and followed the reference numbers to whichever shelves among the many that the specific books were kept on. It didn't take long for the group to gather up the books and while Sam double checked the rest of the reference cards, Dean went to empty out a couple of the large duffle bags they kept full of weapons so they could fill them with books which would make it easier for the witches to teleport. "Alright," Sam spoke as he walked over to the table where Dean was zipping the last duffle, "looks like we got 'em all. Are we ready to head out?" He directed the question at Ana and Connor since this was basically their call.

"Looks like it. You all ready to do this again?" She questioned, grabbing onto Connor's hand and watching as the rest of the group began to grab hands, the process only halting when Dean scowled at the hand that Charlie offered him. "Delaying this isn't going to make it any better, dad." Ana warned, trying not to snicker at the face he was making. Mumbling begrudgingly, Dean accepted Charlie's hand and then scooted closer to Ana so they could finish the circle. Once their hands were touching Ana teleported them out of the room without warning, knowing that by getting it over faster her father would stop complaining sooner… hopefully.

"Ana! Connor!" Valera smiled as the group appeared in front of her, "We weren't expecting you all for another hour."

Looking around Ana noticed that the rest of the meeting room was empty, "Our morning plans were over sooner than we thought they would be." She shrugged before gesturing to the bags that sat at her and Connor's feet. "We brought every book we thought could help." She added as a change of subject.

"Perfect! We can sort them out over here." Valera patted the table that she was standing next to. She watched as the Winchester brothers shared a quick nod and then both moved to grab the bags, it seemed to her that these men were used to doing their own heavy lifting.

Sam and Dean moved at the same time to grab the bags on the floor, neither of them wanting Ana to even try picking one up while at the same time just assuming they would do it. Once they each had a bag in hand and turned to walk toward the table, Dean bumped shoulders with his younger brother. "Dude," he spoke only loud enough for Sam to hear, "she's hot."

The younger Winchester gave his brother his best bitch face, choosing to ignore the comment otherwise. Placing the bag he carried on the table he turned his attention back to the group, "Where's everyone else?" He questioned, assuming that they would have been working without the rest of them being there if this problem was so important.

"Taking a break. We've been working since early this morning." Valera answered with a soft smile, "I thought I had a lead so I stayed behind, but it turned out to be nothing."

"What exactly are we looking for with all of this?" Charlie spoke up, she figured that this was just going to be like a normal hunt. Find the monster, or in this case group of rogue witches, and find the best way to take them down, but if this woman was following some sort of lead on her own kind then maybe her assumption was wrong.

Valera leaned against the table, hiking up a leg so that she was halfway sitting on the dark wood. "The problem with any group of witches getting together is the strength of their power. For covens like ours it's actually a good thing. We can help more people, stop more disaster, try to keep the balance. For a rogue group this large it's pretty deadly. Our tracking spells haven't been able to find them, which wasn't too surprising. If they're using dark magic then without a force as strong as theirs to rival whatever spell they have blocking us we most likely won't be able to locate them. Which is our best first step, if we're able to track them then we'll have a better idea of what kind of numbers were up against and when they'll be moving to attack."

"Maybe we can help." Connor offered, "When Ana and I unite our powers were pretty strong, add that on top of the conjoined power of those of the Council and I'm pretty sure that we can break past any spell they're using."

Nodding, Valera tapped her fingers against her jean clad legs, "Caoimhe had that thought too. We sent Kye and Riley to gather more of the supplies we'll need. After trying for the third time this morning we ran out."

Connor laughed, "So you send the two brothers who will probably take the longest to get the supplies you need?" He shook his head, "By now Riley has probably found some poor girl to hit on and Kye is probably lost trying to find everything they went out for."

"I find that offensive." A voice drew everyone's attention toward the door where two men who looked enough alike to be brothers came walking through. "This one may have ditched me to flirt with a blonde on the street, but I know how to follow directions."

Connor raised an eyebrow at Kye, "Right, because when we were six you didn't get us lost trying to walk from here to the town."

The young British man glared at Connor, "I don't recall that being my idea in the first place. What I _do_ remember was you saying that we should go into town to "find a present for Iona's birthday" and telling me that because I'd been there more often than you I should be able to lead us there."

"It wasn't even Iona's birthday." Riley recalled with a chuckle and shook his head, "Mum likes to talk like I was the troublemaker as a child, but you two paired together was ten times worse than anything I ever did."

Kye scoffed, "It was mostly Connor and now look what he's gone and done." He waved a hand at Connor and Ana, "Got with a girl from the Good line of all things, he's obviously the troubled one out of the pair of us."

Ana raised an eyebrow, "Should I be offended by that?" She aimed the question at Connor, her voice low so that not everyone could hear her.

"No," Valera told Ana with a gentle smile before turning to Kye with a slight glare in her eyes, "there are no harsh feelings between the families. Malakye is most likely just jealous that Connor got to you before he did. Something about the Harlow men makes them think that they're the Goddess' gift to women."

"Great, like I don't get enough of that with my dad." Ana murmured, trying to keep Dean from hearing her, but she realized that her goal was nearly impossible since he was standing just behind her.

Dean frowned at Ana as Sam silently chuckled next to him, "Like you know anything about what I'm like with women. In case you hadn't noticed, since the day you came to the bunker to save me my focuses have been somewhere else."

Ana nodded, "Of course I noticed, but that doesn't mean that I didn't also see a long list of women in the visions I had about you before we met."

"Okay." Charlie interrupted before the Winchester battle of sassy comments could go further, "Not that I don't love to hear you two bicker like this, but we kind of have a witch problem on our hands. Which, ya know, is paired with the issue of an angel and a demon working together to release some sort of crazy powerful evil in the form of two archangels. We should probably get to work."

Everyone stopped for a moment, seeming to have forgotten what they were actually there for or maybe they just forced themselves to focus on the lightheartedness of the teasing occurring in the room. "Charlie's right." Sam spoke up, "I'm not sure if you all are ready to try that tracking spell, but we can at least start on some of the books we brought along."

"The others won't be back for a while so we can start researching. I'm really hoping that your books will have some information that we don't have." Valera told Sam, turning to look at the two bags on the table. "We've never dealt with something like this. Rogues don't ban together and we're not sure how the concentrated amounts of black magic will affect our chances in surviving any battle we have with them."

Sam nodded, closing the space between himself and the table so that he could begin sorting books out of the bags. "Well if we have any information on that it will be in one of these and if not we're pretty good at surviving odds stacked against us."

Dean nodded in agreement as he turned to watch his brother begin to make piles of the books from the bag. "We'll come out on top, we always do." Ana and Kellen's eyes met, each holding an amused glint as they both began to laugh. Realizing his mistake too late, Dean rolled his eyes, "You two are children when you're together." He sighed and walked toward the table to start reading a book that was probably going to be the first in a long line of them.

Though Ana and Kellen were still giggling everyone moved toward the table, the two Harlow brothers included as they had decided to stick around to help. They each grabbed a book and found a place to sit, spreading out so that they all had their own room. Hours passed as they read quietly, the silence only being broken when someone would find something they thought would be helpful to the other side of their group, but it always turned out to be something that either the witches already had record of or the hunters had already used in a fight with a witch. Afternoon was beginning to set in and they hadn't come across anything that would be helpful in their upcoming fight. Valera had spoken with the rest of the Council earlier and they decided that it would be wise to let everyone rest for the night so that they would all be ready to do the spell again in the morning. The group that had been holed up in the meeting room agreed that they would rather continue on with their research so that they would have all of the reading out of the way.

Dean had just finished his third incredibly long and just as boring book on witches, setting it down on the other two he had finished he glanced at his watch. With a smile, he grabbed the three books and stood from the bench that he had been sitting on, leaving Sam and Valera to man the table and books. Quietly setting them in another pile of finished books, Dean caught Sam's attention with a small cough.

Sam had known about Dean's plan for a while and thought it was really great, his brother and niece hadn't gotten much time together since everything began to happen with the demons. With another Winchester/Mohr family member on the way Dean wanted to make sure he got some one on one time in with his daughter. "We've got this. You two go." He assured Dean quietly, giving him a quick smile before turning back to the book on the table in front of him.

Crossing the room with an excited skip in his step, Dean stopped in front of the bench that Connor and Ana were sitting on. Connor was sitting up, one hand held a book as the other brushed through Ana's long hair as she used his leg as a pillow with obviously no shame in making herself comfortable. Shaking his head slightly, he stopped just in front of the couple, causing both of them to turn their attention to him, "You ready to go?" He questioned Ana, knowing that she would have to teleport them back to the Impala.

Glancing up at Connor she closed her book before turning her attention back to her dad, "Whenever you are. Are you sure that we should be leaving in the middle of this study group?" She questioned, feeling bad that they were ditching out and leaving the rest of the reading to everyone else.

"Yes, I'm sure. Sam said they'll be fine, now come on." He held his hand out toward Ana, "We need to go get Baby."

Ana rolled her eyes, she still couldn't believe that her dad named his car. Sitting up, she placed a quick kiss to Connor's cheek, "We'll be back later." She informed him with a small smile before standing and taking Dean's hand. Without saying anything else she teleported them out of the room and to the garage of the bunker.

Dean ran a hand across the Impala's hood as he walked toward the driver side door, "Get in." he told Ana with a grin as he opened his own door, ready to finally put his plan into action.

-A-

Their daddy/daughter date as Ana began to call it, mostly to hear Dean complain, had started off in their favorite small diner a couple of towns over. They had dinner, talked about what happened that morning in Montana, and anything else that they thought of. It was nice that their conversations came so easily and Ana was extremely grateful that she had the easy relationship she did with her dad. After dinner and dessert, pie for Dean and a strawberry sundae for Ana, they began the drive back to the bunker.

"That was great, dad. Thank you." Ana gave him a soft smile as she made herself comfortable in the passenger seat.

He nodded in agreement, "There's just been so much going on lately and after the soulless stint I've felt like we needed this. Now that we're dealing with witches along with the demons and angels, there's no telling when we're going to get time like this again."

Sighing, she looked out the window and watched the passing scenery, "Life has been nothing but crazy lately." Not that life had ever been really calm to begin with, but at least it was nowhere near the amount of crazy they were dealing with now on a normal basis. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes, the music on the radio being the only sound other than the rumble of the engine. The songs changed over the speakers and Ana smiled as a familiar succession of notes began to play, "Turn it up? I love this song."

Dean smiled and complied, happy that they could enjoy the same music when they were together. As the song registered in his head, his smile changed from something full with pride at his daughter's music taste to a look more filled with emotion. He had heard the song countless times and though it wasn't one of his favorites sitting in his car, driving down an empty road with his daughter in the seat next to him, it brought around a whole new feeling. As the lyrics began his smile only grew when Ana began to sing along. He'd never heard her sing before and though she wasn't incredible, she definitely wasn't bad.

 _She's got a smile it seems to me_

 _Reminds me of childhood memories_

 _When everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky_

 _Now and then when I see her face_

 _It takes me away to the special place_

 _And if I stare too long I'd probably break down and cry_

 _Oh, oh, oh_

 _Sweet child o' mine_

He couldn't help but laugh softly as she began to nod her head with the beat, obviously thoroughly enjoying the song and as the chorus picked back up again he began to sing with her, his hands drumming on the steering wheel as they so often did. Glancing over at Ana, they shared a smile as they continued down the road.

 **Note: Two quick things. So I'm almost certain that this is the longest chapter I've posted. I really wanted to get that last scene in, it's been in my head for WEEKS! Also, the song referenced above is Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns N' Roses. I own rights to it like I own rights to Supernatural, which is none. I'm just a crazy fangirl. Now this is longer than I planned… I hope you enjoyed it!**


	54. Chapter 54

**A/N: Hey guys! So sorry that this took so long to get up! I had the hardest time writing this for some reason, this chapter just didn't want to cooperate with me and if you can tell by the writing, again I'm sorry :( But, I hope you all forgive me and I promise to try and not let a chapter get away from me like this one did. Anyway, on to the important stuff which would be the chapter itself. I hope you enjoy :)**

 **Happygoddess2003: I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for the review :)**

 **eldaearien: Thank you so much! I'm glad you're still reading and that you're enjoying it!**

By the time Dean and Ana had gotten back to the bunker that night everyone else was already there, taking the time to wind down and get themselves ready for bed. After a long, love filled hug the father and daughter went their separate ways to go to bed. There was no telling what would happen tomorrow with the tracking spell and they needed to be prepared for anything, which meant getting the proper amount of rest. Connor had already been in bed when Ana walked into his room and she didn't waste anytime taking off her jeans so that she would be comfortable through the night. Once she was laying beside the sleeping man she moved his arm so that she could lay on his chest and the even rhythm of his heartbeat lulled her to sleep.

-A-

Both witches slept peacefully through the night, but the sensation of Ana jerking out of his arms in the early morning brought Connor out of his deep slumber. Listening as the door to his room hit the wall with a loud bang, he sat up and rubbed his eyes, wondering what had caused her to leave the room so quickly. "Ana?" He called after her, standing out of bed and leaving the room as well. Pausing in the hallway to see Sam standing outside of the closed bathroom door that was closest to both of their rooms.

"Ana? You alright?" Sam called through the door, the look on his niece's face as she had rushed in the bathroom and slammed the door behind her had been pale. When the sound of her being sick came through the door he frowned, hearing someone walking up behind him he turned to see Connor. "Looks like morning sickness has begun."

The witch rubbed his hands over his face as he thought of what he could do to ease the nausea that Ana was feeling. She had put a weak wall up between their bond so that he couldn't feel exactly what she was feeling, but he knew it had to be pretty bad. Sighing he looked at Sam, "I've got this. Hopefully this passes soon."

"I can make a run to the store. Ginger ale and saltine crackers are normally a go to for this type of thing." Sam offered. Ana's pregnancy was going to be something they all would need to come to terms with, which also meant helping out where they could. Getting her something to help calm her stomach was the least he could do.

Pausing, Connor wanted to ask how Sam knew what helped with morning sickness, but the thought was interrupted by the sound of Ana getting sick again. "Yeah, that would be great. Thanks, Sam." The older man gave him a small nod and an encouraging smile before leaving him alone to help his sick soul mate. Trying to open the door he frowned when he found it locked, "Ana, I'm coming in." he warned, using a simple unlocking spell on the door. Walking into to the bathroom as the toilet flushed, Connor watched as she leaned back until she was resting on the wall. Her hair was pulled up in a crazy bun right on top of her head and she looked completely miserable. Frowning, he sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and moving her so that she was leaning into him.

"I swear to Chuck, if this lasts through the entire pregnancy, I may find a spell so that you're the one going through all of this." She threatened weakly, resting the side of her face against his chest before taking in a deep breath and pushing herself away from him. "You didn't shower before bed last night, did you?" She groaned.

He raised an eyebrow at her, "No? I planned on showering this morning. Why?" There was no way that he could smell bad, it had only been a day since his last shower.

Grimacing, Ana continued to move away from him until she was stopped by the bathtub. "I can smell the cologne you wore yesterday. I don't think I'm going to be able to be next to you if you're wearing that." She informed him. The one thing that she liked about Connor when they first met was that he rarely wore cologne or anything that smelt strongly, most of the time the scent of the herbs he worked so closely with was the only smell that came off of him. Every so often he would put on real cologne, which never really bothered her then because it wasn't one of those terribly strong smells that could singe nose hair. Apparently her heightened sense of smell changed that because the need to throw up came back around the moment she had smelled it on him.

The look on Ana's face made him chuckle, "So I won't wear it." It was a simple enough fix if it was going to make her more comfortable. "Do you think you're done throwing up? Maybe you should go lay back down for a while. Sam went on a store run to get some stuff for your stomach."

With a nod, she stood up, "I think I'll be fine as long as I don't have to smell you until after you've showered. Which you should do once I'm out of the way, because seriously that smell is just terrible."

"I'll shower, you lay down. Alright? Maybe get dressed if you're feeling up to it." Connor instructed, keeping away from her as she walked toward the exit. "You'll probably want to go to your room in case my sheets smell like this too." He offered, hoping that keeping away from the smell of his cologne would help calm her stomach.

Nodding Ana left the bathroom, only stopping in Connor's room long enough to steal a pair of his sweat pants. Thankfully Sam seemed to be so worried about the sick look on her face that he hadn't noticed she wasn't wearing pants when she had rushed across the hall. She would have to make sure that she was wearing at least shorts at night in case this became a regular thing. Once in her room, she fell back on her bed and curled up into a ball. The majority of the nausea had died down, but her stomach was still feeling a little weak, she wondered if she was going to spend her entire pregnancy sick. The sight of her dad stopping in the open doorway to her room pulled her thoughts away from how miserable she felt, "Hey dad."

Giving her a soft smile, Dean walked into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed, moving back a little further when Ana moved her legs to give him more room. "Rough start to your morning, huh?"

"You could say that." She answered with a frown, "Does everyone know already? It literally happened like five minutes ago."

"No," Dean laughed softly, word did spread around quickly when you lived in a place with five other people always around, "I caught Sam on his way out, he said that you ran passed him before you locked yourself in the bathroom."

Ana groaned and covered her face with her hands, "I don't think I'm cut out for this pregnancy thing if this is what it's going to be like. I'm only like a month and a half along. I can smell everything probably almost as well as a werewolf, I feel like my stomach is revolting, and my freaking emotions are already everywhere."

Dean sighed and rested a hand on her leg, he knew that the first few months of pregnancy were the worst. In his short stint living with Lisa he had watched one of her friends go through it and knew that though women got bigger the further along they were that most of the time it was easier than the first few months. "I know you feel like crap, but you'll get through it. In the span of things nine months isn't that long and you already have over a month in the books. Give it a little more time and I bet you're feeling better, let your body adjust and all that."

Ana smiled at her dad, knowing that he was genuinely trying to help her feel better, but all she heard was him rambling on. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see." She commented, resting a hand on her stomach though she had yet to notice a change in the size of it she knew that there was a very tiny human growing inside of her. "Maybe Iona knows a trick or two about helping curb these symptoms."

"Seeing as most of the witches I've run across are women, I'm going to assume that there is more than one spell or potion or whatever to help with pregnancy." Dean agreed, hoping that there was indeed something one of the other witches could do to help his daughter. He hated seeing her miserable and knew that if they were going to go up against witches or demons or angels while she was pregnant that she wouldn't be able to do it in the state she was in now.

Nodding in agreement, she snuggled against her pillow and sighed, "If this doesn't subside I'm going to be little to no help with that tracking spell." She grumbled. Nothing about being sick boded well with Ana; obviously it sucked in general anyway, but the young witch particularly hated feeling weak and useless.

"Sam will be back soon with some food that will hopefully help, until then just rest here. I'll give Caiomhe a call and let her know what's going on so that they can be prepared to change the plan in case you're still not feeling good." Moving to place a gentle kiss to her forehead, he promised that he would be back to check on her in a few minutes. Standing just outside of the library, he had his phone in his hand and was getting ready to make the call when he spotted Connor heading toward him.

"How is she doing?" Connor questioned, assuming that Dean had stopped to check on Ana. Sometimes seeing how deeply Dean cared for Ana even though she was completely human made the witch smile, thinking about how if he hadn't been actively in the situation that hearing the talk of Dean Winchester taking in his long, lost daughter who was also a witch would sound like a bold faced lie.

Dropping his phone to his side, Dean sighed, "She's pretty miserable. I told her to stay in bed until Sam got back, so hopefully that will help."

Connor nodded, hoping the same, "I'll go keep an eye on her." he assured the older man with a soft smile, knowing that it would help calm some of his worries. The two men went their separate ways, Dean moving into the library to join Charlie and Kellen while Connor continued on toward Ana's room. Just as Connor was about to turn to walk through the doorway, the redheaded witch came barreling around the corner with a smile on her face.

"There you are." Ana smiled up at Connor and took his hand, moving around him and tugging him toward the library.

Frowning at her, he pulled her to a stop, "I thought you were going to rest in bed?" he questioned, taking a moment to study her, realizing that she seemed perfectly fine. "Did you try a spell?" It was the only explanation that came to mind as to why she was suddenly fine.

Ana shook her head, "I wasn't sure if any would work and with how crappy I felt I didn't think I had the focus to try something." She shrugged, "Morning sickness is supposed to be pretty random, right? I mean I've heard about it coming at random times of the day for no reason at all, it would make sense that it could just as easily go away."

"You have a point." Sam's voice came from behind Ana as he was walking down the hallway with a grocery sack in his hand. "I knew a woman who was pregnant and she would get sick randomly, feel horrible for all of five minutes and then be perfectly fine again." he offered with a shrug, handing the bag out to Ana.

"That was quick, how'd you get to the store and back so fast?" Connor questioned, there was no way that Sam had gone to town, went through the store, and gotten back in fifteen minutes.

"I didn't want to take too long with how bad she looked," the taller man gestured to his niece, "so I called in an angel favor." Sam shrugged, it hadn't been hard to convince Gabriel to fly him to the alley just behind the store and then take him back to the bunker.

Ana nodded before giving her uncle a questioning look, "When have you ever known any pregnant women?" Ana couldn't recall ever seeing a time in Sam's life when someone he knew was pregnant. None of the women he had dated ever ended up being pregnant and other than that she wasn't sure Sam had much other interaction with people who weren't family.

"In the time I was with Amelia. One of her friends was pregnant, they talked about it a lot." He answered, confused that she didn't already know that. Sam had grown so used to his niece knowing almost everything about him that it was odd when she didn't know random things about his past. "Which is why I know that these will help." he pointed to the bag.

Letting go of Connor's hand Ana turned and gave her uncle a hug, "Thanks, Sam." she smiled at him before taking Connor's hand again and pulling him toward the library. "We still have work to do. Let's get ready to teleport everyone to the Council."

As the group entered the library they found Dean on the phone, pacing in a small circle as Charlie and Kellen sat at the table watching him. Once his eyes landed on Ana standing there he paused in his conversation and raised an eyebrow at his daughter, "I thought you were going to rest in bed?"

Ana playfully scoffed at her father, "I'm a Winchester, we bounce back fast." she gave him a wink and then moved to sit at the table by Charlie. "You guys ready to witness some kick ass tracking magic?" she questioned the other redhead and Kellen.

Dean turned to Connor, "Is that normal?" he pointed in Ana's general direction, not taking his eyes off of the witch in front of him.

"I'm going to say no, because if there's anything I've learned it's that nothing about her is 'normal', but Sam said it is so…" Connor shrugged as he let the sentence trail off, glancing back and forth between the elder men for a moment before moving to join the others at the table.

The brothers shared a look and a small shrug before Dean quickly returned to his phone to inform Caoimhe that they would be there shortly. Rubbing his fingertips against his temples Dean looked at the table where everyone sat, laughing about something he had missed. "Are you sure you're feeling up to doing this? Caoimhe said that the spell you're all going to be using is going to take a lot of energy, if you're feeling sick maybe you shouldn't do this." He worried as he moved toward the table.

"Dad, I told you I feel fine." Ana gave him a soft smile, knowing that he only had her best interest in mind. "We'll do this spell and then we can continue to plan from there. It's going to take a good amount of energy from every witch participating, afterward we won't be much use in a fight. So we'll let everyone recuperate and then we'll take care of the rogues."

The eldest Winchester took a moment to study the five people sitting at the table, observing them all to figure out what sort of mental state they were in. Caoimhe had mentioned that if even one of them wasn't well enough to focus on the task at hand that it be best they didn't come with the group; even if they weren't participating in the spell the people in the room would affect it just the same. Coming to the conclusion that they were all ready, he nodded, "Alright then, let's get moving."

Ana was the first to stand from the table and she waited patiently as everyone began to move to the wide empty space that they had quickly become used to teleporting from. Once everyone was in position, hands linked with the person on either side of them, both of the witches focused their power and within seconds they had moved from the bunker to the old castle that they were all becoming more familiar with.

The nice thing about teleporting into a group of witches is that for the most part they're prepared for it. The magic works in a way where any witch powerful enough would be able to sense the moment before the bodies of the witches teleporting actually arrived. Which was one of the reason that no one in the group was particularly surprised when they were immediately met by a woman who had been to all of their meetings but they had yet to be introduced to. "Connor." the witch greeted the only person standing within the circle that she was familiar with a bright smile, turning her attention to Ana slowly. They hadn't been properly introduced and though the younger witch seemed nice enough, Iona was still careful about her choice of words as she spoke, "Caoimhe said that the morning sickness has begun. How are you feeling right now?"

"Better. It was over with pretty quickly." Ana answered, studying the woman who stood across from her. Iona was taller than Ana, which wasn't a hard feat as she was beginning to realize that most of the women that were part of the Council families were taller than herself. The older witches complexion was fair, seeming more so compared to the darkness of her long dark brown hair. Her accent would have given away her family line had Ana already not known which Iona came from, each line coming from a separate part of Europe, the only expectation being Connor and Ana's families. The reading Ana had done on the Council families was interesting; Iona's family, the Calhoun line of Scotland, had been in a feud with the Mohr line for decades over something that Ana could never find documented. Then suddenly about forty years ago all of the anger had dissipated between the two lines, proof of that being in how close Niall and Connor seemed to be with the whole family.

Iona gave the young witch a genuine smile, "Great. If you don't mind I would like to check on you after we've tried the tracking spell. I know that you have those angels to check up on you, but it will calm my mind if I could take a peek as well. I might be able to suggest something to help with that morning sickness also."

Smiling in return, Ana nodded, "Sure. We'll find you after the spell is over." she agreed, her hand gripping a little tighter onto Connor's as she hadn't let him go after they arrived. Iona gave her a quick nod before turning away to help the busy witches who were trying to prepare everything for what was about to happen.

"Alright, so since there isn't really anything for the rest of us to do, we're just going to take a seat and watch this whole thing." Dean offered, knowing that they weren't completely useless as all of the hunters were there to aide the witches after the spell was completed as the one's who didn't participate could use more helping hands in taking care of the ones who had.

Watching as her family moved toward the back of the room where they had scooted the pew like benches to, Ana wondered if this would work. The witches participating were powerful enough to do a lot of things and that power connected should be able to break through any protective barrier the rogues were using to hide themselves, but if they were missing some important piece of information it may not go as planned and that worried her. Turning to Connor she gave him a soft smile, ready to turn and help the witches finish preparing the spell, but the vision that hit her like a freight train put a stop to that. Unlike a normal vision that would leave her a little awareness of the real world this one pulled her all the way in, much like the one that she and Connor had shared when they had first met. All worry over the possibility of what was happening around her disappeared as she watched the scene play out in her head.

 _The place that Ana was in was unfamiliar, though it looked to be some sort of log cabin if what she could see of the walls was anything to go by, but what pulled most of her focus was the amount of people inside of the cabin. From what she could see from the angle the vision was happening from there were sixteen- make that seventeen people moving around in a hurry, an almost eery silence plaguing the space as each person was so set on whatever task they seemed to be focused on. With a suddenness that shocked Ana, every person stopped and turned to look at a tall, older man whose clothes were completely black as was everyone else's in the room and long, silver hair that was pulled into a ponytail at the base of his neck._

" _It is time." The man spoke, addressing everyone in the room, "Our instructions are very clear. We are to take out as many of the Council members as we can, but our main targets are Anastasia Winchester and Connor Mohr. We separate them, making them slightly weaker, and we use numbers against them. If not both, at least of them dies tonight."_

 _With silent agreement everyone began moving at once, grabbing things that they had been putting together, collecting weapons. Watching as they prepared themselves for the battle that they were about to wage against Ana's family, she finally focused enough past her own fear to see that part of the objects being packed were spell supplies. These were the rogue witches and they planned on coming for her family._

Coming out of the vision was an experience that Ana wasn't fond of, the more detailed and in depth the visions were the more uncomfortable it was for her to transition from her head back to reality. Blinking her eyes, she tried to focus on what was going on around her, but the raised voices and swarm of people around her was making it difficult. "Will you guys calm down for a couple of minutes. Let me adjust. Damn." she grumbled at them, knowing that she wouldn't be able to focus properly until she wasn't being overwhelmed.

Connor waited until the group that had formed around them moved away. Once the vision had taken over it took all of his fast reflexes to catch her before she hit the ground and once he had lowered her to the ground, he placed her head in his lap and let her lay there as the family that had come with them from the bunker and a few of the other witches fussed over what was going on. Dean and Sam had explained that unless it was a particularly powerful that Ana didn't ever completely fall like she just had and it caused Iona to fret over Ana and the baby, while Caoimhe was worried about why some of her visions were stronger than others. Taking in a deep breath, Connor focused on Ana's green eyes and gave her a gentle smile, "Are you alright?"

"A little better." She assured him, bringing her hand up to her forehead and rubbing her fingers across the skin as if it would rid her mind of the vision that seemed to be burned at the forefront of her head. "It's going to be in our best interest to track these witches down and deal with them quickly." Connor hadn't said anything, asked about the vision, he had grown to understand that once she was ready to tell him that she would. Nothing was kept from the other, particularly when it came to magic, her visions included.

He frowned down at her, ignoring the people that began to form a circle around them again, "What's going to happen?" If there was one thing that he had learned from the last vision that had affected Ana so strongly was that not only were they extremely accurate, but that the strongest ones were the most dangerous scenarios.

"The rogues. They've been instructed to attack us, all of us." Ana spoke, her eyes focused on the ceiling as she replayed what she had seen in her head. "There's a man leading them. The ones that were there, since I'm going to assume there are more purely on the fact that we have more on record than were there, were told to take down as many of us as they could-" She broke off, her eyes moving to meet Connor's, "but that they're to specifically take out the two of us."

A growl emitted from Dean's throat at the thought of someone else coming after his daughter, "Why does that not surprise me?" he shook his head and turned away from the group before he completely lost his cool. Damn witches and angels and demons, why couldn't they just leave his family alone.

"Dad?"

The sound of Ana's voice calling to him pulled Dean out of his head and he turned to see that she was now sitting up, her eyes focusing on him in a worried way that he would never get used to. It still surprised him that someone so young, that had known him for such a short amount of time in the span of things, could hold so much emotion toward him. The only other people he had ever seen that amount of care and worry from were Sam, Bobby, and Charlie, but that was also because those were the only other people he would actually let worry about him like that. Taking a deep breath, he moved toward Ana and knelt down next to her, "We're not going to let anything happen to you, kid." The small smile paired with her reaching for his hand made Dean's heart twinge.

"I know." Ana squeezed his hand, a look of determination settling into her eyes. "Because we're going to make a move on them before they can get anywhere near us." With that thought in mind, she made her way to her feet and looked around the room, noticing that now everyone in the room was focused on her, which wasn't surprising since she had just spoken about how the lot of them were going to be attacked. "We need to make sure that this spell can get a location on them. Once we have that, we form our plan and we make our move."

"Those of us working the spell aren't going to have the energy to fight against anyone after we're done." Kye spoke up. The youngest of the three dusty brown haired men of the Harlow line was just as worried about the potential attack as the rest of the Council was, but he also knew the amount of energy a spell of this magnitude could take from a witch and how long it could take to get that energy back.

Turning to focus on Connor's childhood friend, Ana nodded, "Which is why we won't plan to do anything until tomorrow. If we have a solid plan and everyone can get their strength back up by tomorrow, then I don't want to wait."

"The longer we wait the more time the rogues have to plan against us, even make their own move." Sam spoke up, following the train of thought that was leading to Ana's urgency.

"Exactly." She shot her uncle a quick smile before turning to look at the witches in the room. "We should get started on the spell, after that we can figure out our next step."

With those words everyone began to move, the hunters and those witches who weren't helping with the spell moving toward the sides of the room so those who were working the magic had room to do so. As they began to set their space and pull the last minute things together, Dean watched Ana thinking about how proud he was of her being able to take charge of a situation and urging the people around her in the right direction. Part of him wanted to say that she got that from him, but he knew that though he was a pretty good leader, that she had a different approach to it that made her much more classified for the title than he would ever be.

Sam glanced at Dean, who was at his side, turning his eyes back toward the witches in the center of the room as he spoke softly to his brother. "Stop." he commented, glancing at the confused look Dean shot him before returning his gaze forward. "You've got that look on your face that says you're criticizing yourself. So stop. Whatever it is that you think you're not good enough for or at doing, you're wrong."

"How-"

Sam cut off the rest of his brother's question with a scoff, "Because I've been around you my entire life. You're my brother, I can read you like an open book."

The response that he wasn't as easy to read as his little brother thought died on the tip of Dean's tongue as the witches began their ritual. While he had been focused on Sam, the witches had all taken a seat on the ground and spread themselves out so that when they held their hands out toward their sides that their fingertips were barely touching. Valera began to chant, she was one of the few chair holders of the Council that was taking part in the spell and had taken it upon herself to lead it as she had done the most research on it. Her chant was picked up by the other eight witches within their circle, the volume of it filling the room and the power that they were working with vibrating through Dean. He didn't understand why they weren't using more witches, Ana had mentioned something about the number nine being important, but he couldn't remember why. All that made sense to him was that with more bodies they would have more power.

From the viewer's point of observation the whole thing lacked in a little luster. There was no big explosion, nothing set fire in the room, not even the ingredients they used for the spell held anything special for those only watching. The only difference that could be sensed by those near the edge of the room was the magic vibrating through the room. For the nine witches doing the spell it was a completely different story. Their senses heightened the moment they all picked up the chant, their conjoined magic taking a moment before they were able to focus it on locating the rogue witches. Once it had been focused, it took every ounce of control Ana had not to gasp as she was able to see the spell working behind her closed eyes. Her mind's eye was able to follow the spell as it raced out of the castle, searching for the traces of magic the rogues were using to keep themselves hidden and once the nearest trace of it was found their spell raced along its trail until it found the source.

"I saw the inside of this building in my vision." Ana spoke, once they had collectively stopped chanting, no longer needing to urge their spell on as they had found what they were looking for. Keeping her eyes closed she was able to focus on the large cabin, "I saw seventeen witches inside of it's walls."

Niall stepped forward from where he stood near the wall, "There are upwards of thirty rogue witches on file. This may not be all who are allying with the angel to put an end to you and Connor."

"You have a point, but this is a start." Valera spoke, her eyes still closed just like the rest of the witches. "This cabin is not far from here, we will be able to find it easily once we have a plan." she added.

"Good." Niall stepped up, moving so that he was behind Connor. Turning he gave the hunters a look that told them to be prepared to take their places behind a witch. He waited until there was someone with each witch in the circle before speaking, "Val, release the spell."

Giving the other witches a moment to prepare, Valera took in a deep breath before dropping her hands and opening her eyes. Those actions being enough to lose their collective concentration paired with their connection cut the spell off. The weakness that settled in once everyone was disconnected set in quickly and Valera would have fallen back, hitting her head on the hard concrete floor had it not been for the tall hunter at her side. "Thank you." she muttered to Sam as he wrapped his arms around her to keep her steady.

"Rest." He instructed, pulling Valera's body closer to his own so that he would have her just in case she fell completely unconscious. Looking across the circle his eyes landed on Dean and Ana, his brow furrowing when he noticed that Ana was sitting straight up and looking unaffected by the spell.

"Dad, I'm fine." Ana told her father, who was trying to get her to lean against him or at least stay sitting. She didn't feel weak at all and wanted to use her energy to begin to start their plan.

Dean took in a deep breath, trying to not get angry at her as she argued with him. "Everyone else is spent and even if you feel fine, I doubt that you are completely fine. Just take it easy, alright? It's not just you I'm worried about, you've got my granddaughter growing inside of you and I don't want her coming out with two extra toes because you wouldn't rest after a particularly powerful spell."

Trying to stand up for the third time, hoping that Dean wouldn't try to pull her down again, she grumbled. "I said I'm-" _fine_ was the word on the tip of her tongue as the dizziness set in. Thankfully she hadn't made it far off of the ground as she slumped back down on it and fell against her father, his worried face the last thing she saw before everything went black.

 **Round Two: Again, just really sorry that this took so long to get up. It literally hurts me that I couldn't get this done. Thanks for hanging in there guys, you're the best. Xoxoxoxo! All of the love!**


	55. Chapter 55

One moment Ana was arguing with him and the next she was falling to the floor. Dean's hunter reflexes kicked in so that he caught her before she could hit the floor and get hurt. There was the sudden sound of raised voices as all attention was turned to the unconscious witch in his arms. He could barely hear the worried voices of Connor and Sam, each man not being able to move to check on Ana themselves causing them to question what was happening from afar. She was alive, her breathing was shallow, but even and Dean could feel her heartbeat humming through her body or maybe that was his own… he was too worried to be able to tell the difference. There was little time to question it as he was accompanied on the floor by Caoimhe, the woman Ana had spoken with early that Dean never caught the name of, and Kellen who hadn't offered to aid another witch after the ritual in fear of this exact thing happening.

"Iona, talk to me." Connor demanded, watching as the two witches used their heightened senses and lesser form of their powers to check on his soulmate. As he leaned against his uncle he damned the fact that the spell had taken so much energy out of him, making him unable to check on his pregnant girlfriend himself. When he wasn't immediately answered, fear filled him, "Iona!" Her name a demand for information.

The Scottish witch's body was tense with concern; after all of the things she had heard about Ana it was a surprise that the witch had been knocked unconscious by such a spell. Iona could feel Caoimhe working next to her, giving her young descendent a small portion of energy back. It took some time and though she heard Connor yell at her, she ignored him to focus on the witch that lay in the arms of her father. First she checked to make sure that Ana was okay, because if the mother was in danger than the baby would be as well, whether or not the child was fine on its own. When she was assured that Ana was alright, just weak, Iona moved her focus onto the small blip of a baby in the young woman's womb. Her body deflated in relief once she was certain the baby was alright, perfect she would even say. Looking into the eyes of the eldest Winchester, she gave him a reassuring smile, "She just needs to rest. I'll have someone show you to a room where she can sleep." With that she stood and looked around the room, noticing that both of her brothers were free to help. "Nicholas, Fenrick, could I get your help?" As she waited for her brothers to join her, she glanced at Connor, who was being calmed by Niall so that he didn't begin to panic over Ana.

Iona's brothers stopped by her side, each just waiting for her to tell them what she needed. Being the middle sibling it seemed weird to others how the men both listened to their sister and though she knew that Nicholas had more than enough means to be the "leader" of the three, both brothers never argued when Iona took charge. It was sort of eerie how similar the siblings looked; same dark brown hair, fair complexion, and steel grey eyes. Dean watched the two younger men, the shorter one couldn't be much older than Ana, it seemed that the majority of the next generation of the Council was her age. All that he had seen, except for a younger girl who looked like she was still in high school and a man and woman who looked closer to his own age, seemed to be just a few years older than Ana.

"I think it's best that we put Ana and Connor in a room for a while, let them both rest." Iona explained, "Fen, lead Dean to the room that Connor normally stays in so that he can lay Ana down. Nick, I'm going to need your help moving Connor. Niall needs to stay with the rest of the Council and I don't think it'll be beneficial for Connor to stay here as well."

Both men nodded at their sister's request, Nick and Iona both leaving to speak with Connor while the younger brother, Fenrick, stayed with Dean. "If you're ready I can lead you to the room now." the witch spoke gently to Dean, as if he could understand that with all that was going on the older man was on the brink of breaking down from all of the stress. Simply nodding, Dean carefully stood up, Ana still cradled in his arms and let the younger man lead him out of the main meeting space.

It was strange walking out of the room and into the hall, the hunters had only ever been in the one room every time they came and to think that there was more around it was weird to Dean. It was as if the room existed on it's own in his head when he actually knew that it was in the middle of a rather old castle somewhere on the coast of Ireland. When Ana had just begun to learn about the Council, right before she met with Caoimhe for the first time, Connor had explained to all of them about the castle itself and how the High Council came to be. Though it seemed interesting enough, Dean hadn't paid much attention, though he was pretty sure that when the Council was first thought of the two families that started it were the Good and the Mohr lines, back before they even called themselves by those names. Those two families being from Ireland was the only reason that the castle and the location for their meeting place was in that country, he assumed that there had been fights over it in the past, but whatever may have happened then was completely smoothed out now it seemed. All of the families worked like a well oiled machine and he was really glad that his family was part of it instead of being on it's bad side.

Clearing his head, Dean made sure to pay attention as he followed Fenrick down the long halls until they reached the opposite side of the building. The corridor they were now in veered off toward both the right and the left, each way holding three doors. "This is just the first floor of rooms." Fenrick explained as he continued to lead Dean, stopping in front of a door long enough to open it and stand out of the way. "There's enough room here to house us all if need be, which by the sounds of it could happen very soon. I've heard about the… bunker, is that what you call it?" He paused long enough for Dean to nod as the elder man walked into the room and toward the bed, "Yes, if things go south and for whatever reason we need to stay together or going back to your bunker isn't an option there's also enough room here for your family."

Dean carefully placed Ana on the bed, brushing her hair out of her face before slowly turning to look at the witch. "How old are you?" He questioned, genuinely curious.

"Twenty-one." Fen cocked an eyebrow at the other man, "What does it matter?"

"By the time I was your age I was taking down every ghost, monster, and, sorry to say it, witch I came across. Though I can assure you that the ones we took down were not as friendly as you all are." Sighing the hunter sat down on the bed next to his daughter, looking down at her as he began to speak again. "What I'm getting at is… I thought by doing all of that, going up against every fugly I could get my hands on that I would make life easier, safer for Ana and other kids your age. Now it just seems like one thing after the other is doing what it can to crush that hope."

Iona, Nicholas, and Connor had reached the door while Dean had been talking, the witches stopping to not interrupt him. Sighing, Connor gestured for Nicholas to help him in the room, "Dean, eventually things will calm down." He assured the man weakly as Nickolas helped him to sit in the chair next to the bed. "We have to believe that this won't last forever, otherwise there's nothing to fight toward."

Dean turned his attention to Connor, part of him wanting to hope the young witch was right and the rest stuck with the belief that nothing ever went right for a Winchester. Instead of responding to Connor he stood up and headed for the door, "You get some rest, let me know if she wakes up. I'm going to go check on everyone else." With that he was out the door before anyone could stop him.

"Is he always so doom and gloom?" Nick asked, moving so that he was standing by the foot of the bed.

Connor shook his head, "He's probably stressed, there _has_ been a lot going on lately and we haven't really gotten a chance to breath." Looking to Fenrick, he studied him a moment before posing the question he'd been waiting to. "Were you able to get anything off of him?"

The younger witch nodded, moving away from where he stood by the wall and walking to stand by Connor's chair. "Dean's worried, deeply so for Ana and the child that grows within her. It doesn't stop there, he feels responsible for all of you and in a way, now us. He carries too much, blaming himself for all of this, like he could have somehow stopped it." Fen shrugged, "This will pass. We will handle these rogues, help how we can with the angel problem you and Ana are dealing with, and then hopefully things will calm down so you can raise your child in peace."

Connor gave his friend a weak smile, thankful for the witches of the Council families that cared so deeply for their own, he and Ana included. "I'd very much like to believe that a day will come where we're not fighting off a form of evil, but with this prophecy hanging over our heads I don't think that day will come until we can be certain of how our daughter will use her power."

"Any child of yours, Connor Mohr, will have the purest of hearts." Iona spoke up, giving him a pointed look before he could argue. "Even if they stray once or twice."

"I didn't just stray, Iona."

She scoffed at him, "Compared to how your parents and sister are, all you did was stray. Don't fight me on this. You could have done a lot worse in your time." Giving him one last stern look, Iona moved toward the bed where Ana lay, reaching her power out to make sure that the witch and the baby she carried were both still fine. "You are going to have a very healthy baby girl on your hands in about eight months."

The thought of his daughter made Connor smile, through everything they went through he was thankful that he had Ana and soon their baby girl to keep him fighting. "Why don't you three head back to the meeting room, check on everyone else. I'll wait here until Ana wakes up."

Fenrick patted Connor on the shoulder, "We would like the chance to talk to your lovely Ana when she wakes up. Something tells me she's quite the spitfire." He gave his friend a warm smile before turning to follow his siblings out of the room.

"Yeah, that 'something' has nothing to do with the fact that you're a powerful empath." Connor rolled his eyes, though he fondly watched them all leave. After leaving his family and cutting off all ties to his sister, Victoria, many of the children of the Council families had taken him in. He'd become friend to all of them, campion in magic, but to the Calhoun siblings and the sons of the Harlow line he'd become a brother. Gathering all of the energy he had left in him, Connor pushed himself out of the chair that Nick had helped him into and shuffled the short distance to the bed before situating himself next to his soulmate. "Someday life will be easier. I promise." The words were mumbled, but that didn't make them any less true and the last thought he had before he drifted to sleep was that he would do whatever it took to follow through on that promise.

-A-

When Dean entered the meeting room the first thing he noticed was that the majority of the witches that had been a part of the spell were no longer in the room, he assumed that they had been taken to a room to rest like Ana and Connor had been. The second was that Sam looked pretty comfortable leaning against one of the walls with Valera's back resting against his torso. The younger woman was talking animatedly about something, as animated as she could get at least, and Sam seemed to be concentrating hard on absorbing every word she said. He slowly made his way over to the pair, knowing that Val wouldn't be able to see him right away with the angle she was reclined at and he knew that if his brother didn't want him to interrupt that Sam would no doubt give him a informative bitch face. When Sam spotted his older brother the younger Winchester smiled and Dean took that as a good sign.

"How's Ana?" Sam asked, the concern that had been at the back of his mind as Val spoke coming full frontal now that his brother was back. Caoimhe had stopped and assured everyone that Ana was fine, just overtly tired.

Dean sighed, crouching down so that he wasn't towering over them, though it would have been a change of pace from how often Sam did the same exact thing to him. "She'll be okay, sleeping off all of that with Connor." He shrugged, glancing back and forth between his brother and the witch who looked extremely comfortable against him. "How are you holding up, Val?"

The witch's eyes were focused up at Sam, specifically his defined jawline and the stubble that was growing there. "I'm a little out of it." Valera finally answered, realizing that it had taken her a bit longer than it normally would have to respond. "A spell like that is a lot for any witch and let's just say that when I'm out of energy I get a little… What's the word you Americans would use?" She paused to think on it a moment before nodding to herself, "Loopy."

"A little?" Sam questioned with a smile, looking down at Val with a raised eyebrow before looking back to Dean. "Before you came over she was explaining to me what the spell felt like, I think you caught some of the hand motions she used."

Dean nodded, "I just assumed it was some weird form of interpretive dance." He chuckled as Valera grumbled at him. "What I originally came over here for was to see if we have a plan for the rest of the day? I'm going to assume that the nine of you that did the spell are going to be out of the game until you get some sleep, so what do we do now?"

Sam shrugged his shoulders, right now none of the calls made were on them, this was witch business. Looking down at Valera he noticed that she had fallen asleep while he and Dean had been talking. "I guess we'll just hang out here, not like we really have a way to get back to the bunker unless we call Cas or Gabe, but I doubt you want to leave Ana here with everything going on."

"We'll stay here." Dean concluded. His brother was right, there was no way he was going to leave his daughter, not even knowing this place was as well protected as the bunker. "I'll track someone down to show us where we can all stay and where you can take Sleeping Beauty." Standing up, Dean caught sight of the three siblings from earlier entering the meeting room. Moving quickly he caught up to them before they could get caught up doing something else. "Hey, Iona, right?"

The female witch nodded and gave him a warm smile, "Yes, what can I do for you, Dean?"

"I was wondering if you could help us out. It doesn't look like we're going to be leaving today unless Connor or Ana wake up before nightfall. We were hoping that you had a couple of rooms we could use for the night and that one of you might be able to show my brother where Val stays when she's here? She's out cold." Dean explained, part of him not wanting to seem too up front with the witches, but at the same time knowing that it would be dumb to back down. None of them had shown any aggression toward his family.

"Of course! It looks like the Council has already separated for the day so we can just assume that the rest of the time will be used to make sure the witches that participated in the spell are recovering as they should be." Iona gave the man another smile, "Why don't you collect the rest of your people, my brothers will show you to the rooms you can use and I will direct Sam to Valera's room so I can check on her once we get there."

Dean returned the smile awkwardly, "Sounds good to me. I'll go grab Charlie and Kellen." It wasn't hard to spot the pair across the room, the redheaded hunter and the younger man were sitting next to each other seemingly deep in conversation. The closer he walked to them the easier it became to hear Charlie's animated talking.

"I can't believe you haven't seen any of the Lord of the Rings movies!" She threw her hands in the air and shook her head at Kellen, "Do you live under a rock or something?!"

Kellen sighed and rolled his eyes at Charlie, "No, I do not live under the rock. I just never had a reason to watch them. I never got around to reading the books and whenever I had the thought of watching it, something else would come up."

Charlie looked at him as if he had grown a third head and was ready to jump into another rant when Dean cleared his throat to get their attention. Noticing him for the first time, she jumped up from her seat and wrapped the eldest Winchester in a hug. "How's Ana?"

"She'll be fine, she just needs to rest. We're going to stay here for the night so that we can help in case something happens while their numbers are down." Glancing over his shoulder, Dean saw that Iona had gone to talk to Sam and that her brothers were waiting patiently for them. "I've found some people to lead us to our rooms, we'll get some rest ourselves before they need us again. There's no telling when the rogues will decide to attack." Not waiting for either one of them to answer, he turned and headed back toward where Nicholas and Fenrick were waiting.

The brothers set off with the small group of hunters, easily being able to allow for Dean's request that their rooms be near each other and also near Connor's if it was possible. He wanted to be able to get to his family quickly if anything were to happen. With a quick explanation of the layout of the side of the castle that the rooms were in the hunters were left to their own devices while Fen and Nick returned to the meeting room where their sister had asked them to meet her.

"Ah, there you are." Iona came up between her brothers just as they were turning down the corridor that led to the meeting room. Linking her arms through both of theirs and giving them each a warm smile. "I assume you got the hunters squared away?"

Nick nodded, "Of course. Their just down the hall from Connor and Ana. How was Val when you left her?"

Iona's smile turned into a knowing smirk, "In the very capable hands of one Sam Winchester, I'm sure she'll be fine." As they walked through the open doors of the large room, she leaned her head on Fen's shoulder. "She's growing quickly smitten with that one."

"Of course she is." Fen shook his head, shrugging his shoulder to make his sister move her head. "Not only do they have the book lover thing going on, but Val's always liked taller men and she could climb that one like a tree."

The siblings shared a soft laugh as they moved to join the small group of witches left in the room, their parents and grandmother included. No one in their family had taken part in the spell, all five of them wanting to be able to help those who would need to recover from the energy loss. The Calhoun line was known for being great healers, though some of them were much better than others. "How is everyone?" Nick questioned their father.

Gavin sighed, "They're all very weak. Emie, Ana, and Kye are the worst off. Those three being the youngest to participate, you know how hard it can be for them to regulate how much energy goes into such a thing. Ela, Damien, and Andrea were all able to get back to their rooms on their own and of course Marius refused any help, the lad has been idiotically stubborn since the day he was born and thirty-odd years has done nothing to aide that."

Iona scoffed at her father's comment, knowing very well just how stubborn the only Lillegard son could be. "What of Elliot? How is he holding up?"

"Tending to his baby brother as usual." Their mother's voice came from behind her, causing Iona to look over her shoulder to see her. "As your father said, Kye was very weak and no matter how long I fought with Elliot he wouldn't just worry about himself while his brother needed his support. Riley is with them so hopefully he convinced Elliot to sleep." Dallis wrapped a comforting arm around her daughter's shoulder, "There's only so much we can do when they won't cooperate."

Standing together it was clear that the Calhoun traits were the dominate genes in the family. Dallis had married into the family line and her lighter traits had not been carried on by her children, they looked so much like their father. "Looks like the elders are leaving. I assume that's our que to get some rest as well." Gavin gave each of his children a look before shooing them off to their rooms, taking his wife by the hand and following shortly behind the three.

It wasn't long before the meeting hall had cleared out and though it was early in the evening it seemed that everyone was content with getting their rest while they could. There was no telling when they would be ready to go up against the rogues or what would eventually happen with Gadreel and his followers. Even with God rooting for them there were things that had to happen, certain events that had to take place, people who had to make decisions and as Chuck thought about all of the obstacles that lay ahead for the Winchesters he knew that the betrayal that was taking place at that very moment would be one that would haunt the hunters and the witches for a very long time.

-A-

Deep in the forest not far from the castle that protected the hunters and the witches, Gadreel stood waiting for the one who had called him to make their appearance. The information that the witch held was priceless when it came to dealing with the Winchesters and would give him the upper hand he needed to be prepared for their next move. Gadreel felt the taint of magic on the night before the witch appeared in front of him, "You said this was important, why did you keep me waiting?"

"I had to wait for everyone to go to their rooms before I left. The magic that was worked tonight was powerful, the location of the rogues and their plan has been revealed." The witch spoke, they hadn't been prepared for this to happen so quickly. "Once those who did the spell are well enough they plan to attack. With the Mohr and Good witch fighting the rogues stand no chance."

Gadreel nodded, thinking about the next step in the elaborate plan he'd constructed. "Let them do what they will. The rogue witches mean little and are only a distraction tactic at this point. You will not do anything to stop or slow the Council's attack on them. Continue to study them, learn their weaknesses, be my eyes and ears. Your time will come." With that the angel disappeared, the forest quickly becoming empty of all supernatural beings as the witch teleported back to the castle, ready to follow the orders given.

 **A/N: So it's a lot shorter than my chapters normally are, but it's done and I'm happy with the ending so that's a plus. What's everyone think so far? New things are happening, lots of new characters as we're further introduced to the Council families. Total, including Ana and Connor, there are twenty-eight people in the active Council families. That's not including any rogue witches that belong to those lines, which there are a few of, so there are going to be a lot of names thrown around in coming chapters. It may get confusing, but please bare with me. If you have any questions, I will gladly answer them. I'm thinking about doing some sort of lineage tree so you can see who belongs to which family and all that stuff, if you're interested in that let me know! As always I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :)**


	56. Chapter 56

**A/N: Hey guys, so here's the deal. As I continue to write this, specifically the beginning of this chapter, it hit me that this is majority original ideas with the help of a few of Supernatural's characters and previous plot lines (Michael, Lucifer, stuff like that) with these nonhuman creatures as they've made them in their universe. I'm no where near done with this story, there's still so much plot that's planned in my head that just has to wait for the right time to be written into this story, but I'm curious to know what you guys are thinking. I'm still getting follows and favorites (which I'm extremely grateful for, I love you all) and you all are still reading, but since this keeps getting further and further from a Supernatural centric story I'm just worried that some of you may be losing interest. Yes, this is still very much involving the Winchesters, but as the plot is focusing around the witch problem now they're no longer a major focus.**

 **I guess I'm just worried that I'm putting some of you off by taking it so far away from them, I would LOVE feedback on what you think! Also, what do you think of all of these original characters? They won't be hanging around forever, most of them anyway, but for the plot as of right now they're all very needed.**

 **Anyway, I'll stop rambling. Feedback on any of this would be much appreciated. Hopefully you enjoy this chapter! :)**

When the sun rose the next day a handful of people were already awake in the castle, even though it was still in the early hours of the morning. Ana was far from full strength, but her power had forced her to wake up; it was humming through her body as if it was arming itself to protect her from harm. Which was weird enough, she'd had control of her magic for months now why all of the sudden was it trying to work without her. Connor must have been able to feel it because before Ana could say anything he was sitting up and giving her a questioning look. He opened his mouth as if he were about to say something but the sudden sound of someone barging into their room stopped him. Turning his attention to the witch that hadn't even bothered to knock, Connor scrunched his eyebrows together, "Fen, what the hell?"

"Something's wrong. I could feel it down the hall, it woke me out of a dead sleep." Fenrick responded, looking slightly crazed with wide eyes, a sever case of bedhead, and the wrinkled tee shirt and sweats he had been sleeping in.

Connor looked at Ana with worried eyes, he could feel her power acting out of sorts, but other than that she seemed fine. "You felt it down the hall?" he aimed the question at Fen as Anna sat up next to him.

The dark haired witch nodded, "I know, it's strange." he commented, easily picking up on the undertone of Connor's words. "Part of the reason I hurried here." Fen walked over to Ana's side of the bed, looking at the powerful witch that was just a year his junior. "This isn't a normal thing is it?" He aimed the question at both people in front of him.

"This hasn't happened since Gabriel took his grace back. I had some control of my power after that, but it's been months, almost a year since I haven't been able to control it." Ana answered, yawning as she felt the half renewed energy she had when she first woke up begin to dwindle. "I think that spell last night took a lot more out of me that it should have." she commented offhandedly. Slowly she lowered herself back into a laying position in the bed, fighting to keep her eyes open.

Connor and Fen shared a worried look, "You shouldn't be this drained still." Connor told her, waiting for Fen to step up and use the one specific power he held more control over than most witches did.

Fenrick's empathic abilities began to show when he was young; as a small boy he was able to understand emotions that not only he was experiencing, but those that the people around him were feeling. As he aged Fen was able to hone this ability, making it stronger and broadening it so that he could also do more than just sense the emotions. Moving so that he was standing next to Ana's side of the bed, he didn't wait for permission before he held his hands out toward her body. At first all he could sense was the woman's extreme exhaustion, it radiated through her body and seemed to be the problem that was hindering the control of her magic. Pushing further with his power he began to scan the essence of her spirit, it being where their magic resided, if something was wrong with her power itself he would find it there. Searching the surface of the purple light that was Ana's spirit Fen stopped when he found what the problem was; there was a spell wrapping itself around her soul, weakening it. The feeling that radiated off of the magic was tainted with such a dark evil that it made Fen jerk away from it, pulling his power back. "Dark magic." he told Connor, being able to feel that Ana was too far lost in the exhaustion to be able to help.

While Fenrick had been using his magic Connor had watched Ana's face as her eyes closed, no longer being able to fight with the weariness of her body. Now that those two words were out of his friends mouth he noticed that her breathing had gone from sleeping deep to extremely slow in mere moments. "The rogues?" Connor questioned frantically, if the magic was working as quickly as he had just witnessed they would have to race against it before it could do more damage to Ana than it already had.

Fenrick shook his head, "Darker than even they could accomplish alone. It's an old spell, something made by a witch, but the power surrounding it is darker. Demonic, even."

A long line of curses came out of Connor's mouth as he jumped off of the bed, moving toward a trunk he kept in the corner of his room. Opening it quickly, he moved things aside until he found a pouch made of golden thread. Snatching it up in his hand he jogged back to the bed, hopping up on the mattress and scooting until his knees were at his soulmates side. "Demons and witches, damn angels…" Connor muttered as he dug through the bag of talismans until he found the one he was looking for. Tossing the rest of them aside he held it in his hand, wrapping his fingers tightly around it before holding his fist high above Ana's body. Quickly glancing up at Fen, his friend too the signal and wrapped both of his hands around Connor's clenched fist and then Connor quickly placed his free hand on the other side of Fen's. The chant that Connor took up was something they had used before, one that would eradicate any evil from a person and with powerful witches like he and Fen it would hopefully work quickly.

The pair chanted together, focusing all of their power to rid the evil that tainted Ana's spirit and magic. They chanted for minutes on end, never pausing, but the evil wouldn't dissipate. Connor was about to growl in anger when three bodies hurried through the open door of his room. Glancing up long enough to see Valera, Dean, and Sam, he quickly looked back to Ana once he was sure they were safe. Valera's room was just on the other side of his own, she must have heard them chanting and come to see what was going on. Dean and Sam began to ask questions as Valera moved toward the bed, quickly instructing each of the men to stay back. She had no idea what was going on, but understanding what the two men chanting were doing was easy enough. Not pausing for a second, Val closed the space between herself and Ana, not caring about any personal boundaries as she straddled Ana's lower legs and placed one hand on top of the men's and one on the bottom, adding her power to theirs and taking up the chant with them.

Dean and Sam stood back, watching the witches stand and chant determinedly. They still had no idea what was going on, what had happened to Ana or how serious it was, but they both shared a fearful glance as the witches continued to work. Dean was beginning to panic, they had been chanting for what seemed like an hour, on top of however long Connor and Fenrick had been going before they had arrived, and it didn't seem that anything was happening. He was just about to start yelling for an explanation with Ana sucked in a deep breath and sat straight up. Stepping forward he watched as the three witches around her dropped hands and let out a relieved breath. "What the hell was that?" He demanded, looking at each of them, not really caring who answered him.

"That was some very strong dark magic with an extremely tight hold on your daughter's soul." Fen answered, offering Val a hand to help her up so that Ana could move. "There for a moment I wasn't sure we were going to be able to break it."

Valera nodded, watching as Connor checked on Ana, "Were you able to get a reading on the spell itself?" She questioned Fen, something that strong would have had to been cast while Ana was in the presence of the witch doing so.

"It was an old spell, in a language I don't think has been used by any witch in centuries. Also, I believe that whoever cast it was aided by a demon. It was too dark to just be a witch working dark magic, it felt tainted by Hell itself." He explained, glancing over his shoulder at the Winchester's. The moment the word 'demon' had come out of his mouth both men became tense, which wasn't surprising at all.

"So now not only are these rogue witches working with Gadreel they're working with demons too?" Dean's words were almost a growl, it seemed like every time they almost had their next step figured out something would change and they would have to rethink the whole situation over again.

Ana threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, "Jade. She's working with Gadreel, Gadreel is working with the rogues to get to us; it's not that large of a leap to think that whichever demons are working with the witches are under command from Jade and Gadreel."

"A spell like this would have either had to been cast in your presence or require a form of DNA for it to work as strongly as it did." Fen offered, knowing that Ana hadn't been around a rogue witch or a demon in at least twenty-four hours meant that the first option wasn't plausible.

Connor and Ana shared a look, both thinking the same thing. "I would have been able to sense if there were a rogue witch or a demon any where near me. I don't know how they would have been able to get my DNA, it's not like I have been much of anywhere but here or the bunker lately."

Everyone seemed to pause and contemplate how this would have been able to happen, the room falling into silence as their was no immediate answer in any of their minds. Sam was going over what he knew of witches, how their spells worked and the new knowledge he was gaining from being around these good witches he had no idea existed for the longest time. "What about a hex bag?" He glanced at Dean, remembering the amount of trouble they had with the objects in the past. "We've seen plenty of those in our time, could one do something like this?"

Valera thought about the possibility, "Maybe, that would still pose the question of how they got it on Ana's person and where it is now."

"So what we're saying is that we have a lot of if's and maybe's but no real leads. That somehow there was a spell put on my daughter without our knowing, but that would require some form of contact with the bastards on the other side of this fight and we don't know how that happened?" Dean sounded speculative, pausing as a thought struck him. "Could there be someone here playing both sides? That would make sense right? Someone acting like they're playing for our team, but really is just sticking around to help the other side get the upper hand?"

"No." three voices answered at the same time, all of the witches that knew the people in the castle with them certain about their answer. "These witches have been fighting at our side for centuries, none of them would have any reasoning to suddenly turn against us." Valera assured the hunters.

Fenrick nodded in agreement of Val's words, "If anyone held ill feelings toward us I would be able to sense it."

Dean was about to yell about the whole situation, feeling completely fed up with everything going on, but before he had the chance Ana began to speak. "We can figure out _how_ later. Right now we need to focus on our next move. They obviously wanted me out of the game by trying to drain my energy like that." Her voice held a pissed off tone that Dean was beginning to call her 'screw this, I'm going to kick someone's ass' tone. He wondered momentarily if she got that from him. "They're delusional if they think I'm going to let something like that slide. We need to give them a show of force, scare them, then be prepared to launch our attack."

"A show of force?" Valera raised an eyebrow at the young witch, "Did you have something in mind?" The distance between themselves and the location of the rogues would make any spell difficult to cast, if they wanted it to be successful they would need a lot of power. Which meant getting most of the families to participate. Which meant getting agreement from the High Council and that would be hard to do with any spell or ritual that could possibly considered dark magic.

"I don't know." Ana shrugged, "Set their cabin on fire. Conjure a wild pack of boars to attack. Anything to distract them long enough for us to get a plan together and attack them before they have the chance to attack us. I'm done waiting for this to be over, it needs to be dealt with so we can focus on Gadreel."

Sam cleared his throat, "If all you want to do is distract them then I can think of one surefire way to make that happen." He looked at Ana, giving her a small smile since he knew that she would be more than thrilled with his idea. "Why don't we give Gabriel a call? He hasn't been able to pull many tricks lately and I'm sure he'd be willing to lend a hand."

Dean groaned at his brother's suggestion, but Ana returned her uncle's grin at the thought of her favorite archangel being able to help out by doing what he did best. "You're a genius!" she commended Sam, turning to give Connor a quick wink before she began to pray. "Gabriel, we could really use your expertise down here."

The sound of flapping wings filled the room, signalling the appearance of the archangel, but no one was prepared for the sight they were about to turn and see. "Kielbasa?" Gabriel questioned, donning the same outfit that he had in the "porn message" he had left the Winchesters, shining silver servers platter and all. Looking to Ana, he raised a suggestive eyebrow at her.

"Ew. No!" Her face scrunched up in disgust at the thought of what was being suggested. "Never. Just, ugh." Ana shook her head quickly to try and rid her mind of the image before her. "Trickster expertise."

Gabriel smirked and shrugged his shoulder, snapping his fingers to rid himself of the strange outfit and back into his normal clothes. "Well why didn't you say so in the first place? I'm always down for giving some poor suckers what they deserve."

Sam scoffed, remembering exactly how much Gabriel enjoyed messing with people. "Then you're going to love this. We need you to distract the rogue witches so we can figure out our next move without having to worry about them attacking Ana, again."

"Again?" Gabriel glanced at Ana, raising a curious eyebrow. "What have they done so far?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. An energy draining spell that could have killed her, maybe." Fen answered with a shrug and a yawn.

Dean's head snapped around to look at Fen so fast he was certain whiplash would set in shortly after his adrenaline rush died down, " _Maybe?_ "

Valera nodded, "There's no telling how Ana's body would have reacted if it was held under that spell for a few more hours. Her system could have just shut down, functioning enough to keep her alive but not enough for her to be awake. Or she could have died."

"Damn witches." Dean swore, looking back to Gabriel. "You give them everything you've got, worse than anything you threw at me and Sam. By the time these guys are done doing whatever it is they're going to do, I want them to wish they had died."

Sam paused, his brother's words bringing a question to mind, "What will you guys do with them once we have them cornered? Murder doesn't really seem your style." If it were he or Dean making the plan there would be no other plan than putting those rogue witches in the ground. Dark witches were never something either of them could tolerate.

Connor sighed, "Sadly, murder is frowned upon, though I've been considering the option for a while now. No, they'll be bound in iron and stripped of their powers."

Each witch in the room seemed to involuntarily wince at the thought, "A life without magic is worse than death to any witch." Valera spoke, her tone almost mournful as a frown set on her lips. She felt a large, comforting hand on her shoulder and glanced up to see Sam giving her a small, sympathetic smile. Returning it, she sucked in a deep breath, "But it is what has to be done and these witches have done more than enough to warrant their punishment. All that there is to do now is gather those who are going to fight and make sure we have everything we need." Turning to look at the Winchester brothers, she paused a moment before chosing her next words carefully. "This fight could get… ugly. Two opposing sides of witches in battle has never turned out in anything less than horrific, it may be best-"

"Don't even say it." Ana cut Val off, knowing that the elder witches next words would just piss off her father. "They've gone up against witches before and they won't be alone. The only way we'd get them to stay here would be to spell them or physically lock them down anyway."

Valera shook her head, "Don't say I never tried to save you two." she gave each man a pointed look before turning to address the witches in the room. "We'll meet with the rest of the Council in the meeting room in fifteen minutes? Everyone can change out of their sleepwear." she offered, knowing that those she sat with would probably think them all crazy if they ran in there looking as they did now. "Also gives us each a few moments to think of different strategies. We're going to need options going into this battle."

Each of the younger witches nodded, Connor and Ana waiting for the others to file out of their room so they could change. Dean and Fen were the firsts to move, Dean watching his brother long enough to see a smitten look on his face as he stared at the witch that stood in front of him. Shaking his head the eldest Winchester left the room.

Sam was too busy thinking about the way Val could go from being a concerned friend to a witch in charge of those who looked to her for guidance in mere seconds to catch the first movements of her turning around to leave the room, but instead having to come to a stop right in front of him because he was in her way. "Uh, Sam? Don't you think we should get out of here so those two can get dressed?" she raised an eyebrow, confused by the look on the man's face.

"Right.. Yeah.. sorry.." Sam fumbled with his words before quickly turning around and heading out of the room. Once in the hallway he was able to see Dean walking down the left corridor and turned to follow him. Valera had woken him up when she'd felt Connor and Fen's magic working and had led him to get Dean before the three of them had entered Ana's room. He hoped that his brother had thought to get Sam a room of his own even though he had stayed with Val the night before, he could really use the space at the moment. "Hey!" Sam called just above a whisper as he jogged to catch up with Dean.

"Did you strike out already?" Dean teased as they came to the room he was staying in, "I was only gone like a minute and I missed you making a fool of yourself, didn't I?"

Sam stopped and glared at his brother as he opened the door in front of them, "Shut up." He scoffed and pushed Dean into the room, hoping that he'd thought to have someone find them some clean clothes or somehow gotten ahold of some of their own.

-A-

"Well that was strange." Valera commented with a tilt of her head, before she could think too hard on it she shook her head to regain her focus. "Fifteen minutes." She repeated to the couple over her shoulder before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

Gabriel watched everyone leave the room before he turned to look at the two witches left, "You okay?" he asked Ana, wishing that he wasn't so busy trying to track down the angels that were assisting Gadreel so that he could be around to help protect her.

Ana smiled at the archangel and nodded, "I'll be even better when I can kick some rogue witch ass." she offered with a wink, knowing that Gabriel worried about her a lot. Between her dad, her uncle, her soulmate, and her own protective archangel there was little doubt in Ana's mind that a moment went by when _someone_ wasn't worrying about her. It was a little sweet, but mostly pretty annoying. "Now go screw with some witches. Make it creative."

"I've got a few ideas that I've been waiting to use." Gabriel gave her a smirk that would scare those who were on his bad side, "This is going to be fun." The words hung in the air as he flew out of the room, ready to let out some pent up aggression on the witches that were helping his traitor of a brother screw around with those he cared about.

With the room finally empty Ana and Connor were able to relax a little, each one taking a moment to settle into the silence around them before moving. "Are you feeling alright?" Connor finally spoke, turning to look at his soulmate, both of his hands resting on the sides of her face.

Smiling up at him, Ana nodded slightly, "I feel great now that the spell is broken. I promise you that I'm alright." Stepping up onto the tips of her toes she kissed him softly, "Now we need to get changed otherwise we're going to be late meeting everyone else."

Taking a few seconds longer just to look at her, Connor slowly removed his hands from her face and turned to dig through his dresser for clean clothes. Ana had to teleport back to the bunker to get clean clothes, they hadn't planned to be staying at the castle anytime soon so she hadn't thought to leave anything there. She changed quickly and teleported back to see Connor place the talisman back in the bag that he had dug it out of before putting the bag itself back into the trunk. "Ready?" he questioned as he stood up and turned to face her. Taking in the jeans and black tee shirt Ana was wearing made everything finally sink in for him, they were about to go up against a large group of rogue witches with his pregnant girlfriend in the front line of battle. He knew that she purposefully wore clothes that she could easily move in should she have to physically fight off an attack. Maybe he had been wrong to promise that someday their lives would slow down, it didn't seem like they would ever get the chance to breath without worrying about one thing or another.

"Ready when you are." Ana told him, watching as his brows knit together in worry. "Let's go before that brain of yours gets you all worked up. We need to be clear headed to take on these rogues, so stop overthinking things."

"Says the queen of overthinking." Connor teased, moving toward her and taking her hand before leading her toward their bedroom door. She was right though and he knew it, before they left to fight against the rogue he would need to clear his head otherwise he could get himself or someone else hurt. "Would it be crazy to think that the rogues go without a fight and just let us bind them to take their magic away?"

Ana laughed, throwing her head back as they walked down the hall together, "Completely insane would be the better way to describe it. You know as well as I do that once they see us that they're going to attack. Not only because we're going to strip them of their magic, but because they're following Gadreel's orders which means they need us out of the way."

He sighed and shook his head, of course there would be a fight, he knew that there was little chance that they could avoid one, but he didn't want to risk anyone getting hurt. Especially Ana. Before he could think any longer on it they were entering the gathering hall to see almost everyone else already there.

Caoimhe walked to meet them before they could join the rest of the group, wanting to have a private conversation with the couple before they got onto the task of planning out their battle strategy. The elder witch had no doubt in her mind that this would turn into exactly that, a battle. "How are you feeling?" the question was meant for both of them, though she was more worried about Ana. The first thing Valera had done when she had joined the rest of the Council was inform them of the spell that had been cast on Ana.

"Ready to get this over with." Ana answered, more than ready to get started. The number of times she had been attacked by demons and angels within the time that she had met the paternal side of her family may have started to take a toll on her. A strange sort of bloodlust began to surface any time she thought about those who wanted to hurt those she loved and it was only growing stronger with each attack.

Connor glanced sideways at Ana before answering Caoimhe, "I'm great and she's doing better now that the spell is broken." he glanced around to take count of who all was there, "Are we just waiting on Sam and Dean?" The only people in the room were the Council members, Fenrick, and themselves. For it being so early and after the attack on Ana they all understood that it would be easier if they kept this discussion small before handing out instructions to the rest of the families.

"Not any longer." Caoimhe commented with a smile as the Winchester boys walked into the meeting hall and toward them. "Shall we?" she questioned, knowing that by acting quickly they may be able to get the upper hand in the fight. Motioning for the group to follow her toward the other side of the room they joined the others, forming a circle just in front of the long table that the Council sat at during more formal affairs. "The rogues have made their first move." She began, pulling the focus to the cause at hand.

"By attacking one of our own they have declared their stance against us and we cannot allow it to go any further." The shorter woman next to Caoimhe spoke up, her German accent as thick as her long blonde hair. Her eyes focused on Ana as she continued to speak, her sixty years of age not showing as she squared her shoulders, "We send our best to trap, bind, and strip these rogue witches of their power before they can cause greater damage to our coven. There is the risk that we may lose some of our own, but that risk is worth avoiding the destruction they could cause to the rest of us."

There was always a risk when going into a fight with powerful beings; be they demons, angels, or witches the possibility of casualties on their side was something no one was ignoring. The likelihood of greater damage being done to the members of their large coven was enough to outweigh the fear of losing some of their own to protect to rest and that knowledge hung heavy on the heads of those in the room, filling the space with a short silence.

A man cleared his throat across the circle, pulling the attention away from the thought of death. "Giselle is right. We may sacrifice, but we shall come ahead in the end. Those of us who are old enough, versed in both defensive and offensive magic, and in understanding of the power stripping ritual will be sent to fight. The rest will stay here and prepare to heal those that return." The elder man took in a deep breath at those words, somber with the knowledge that his one and only child would be part of the group to fight weighed on him.

"Tiberius." Niall spoke, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder to help calm him. They would each be sending someone into the battle that they cared deeply for, but this was the danger that they faced as the governing witches of their area. "All of the members of the Council will stay here, if by some chance our plan fails those remaining will be next to stand up."

Valera took a step forward, drawing attention to herself, "As a member of the Council I am in full understanding of our common actions during times like these, but I will not stand back while this battle is waged."

There was a shocked silence among the Council before Caoimhe spoke, "Valera, you are the last of your line. As heartless as it may sound, we need you to mother the next generation of Konstantinov witches. We cannot risk your life in the name of battle that can be fought by others."

"If this fight is not fought to the fullest there will be no Council for my children to be a part of." Valera plead, she refused to let her dwindling family line be the reason she wasn't in the middle of whatever was going to happen between their people and the rogue witches. "We need every witch we can spare and I am more than willing to be one of them." A few of the other Council members began to speak up in argument, but she quickly cut them off. "I'm going and that's final. Head count of the rest of those coming with us and those staying; by line."

"Anastasia Winchester of the Good line will stand to protect what is ours." Caoimhe spoke first, not at all pleased by how Valera had shut them all down, but she had just as much say in these decision as the rest of the Council members did.

"Connor Mohr will stand." Niall spoke up, shooting his nephew a proud, yet worried glance.

"Gavin, Dallis, and Nicholas Calhoun will stand. Iona and Fenrick will remain for aide." The second eldest female witch spoke for her family.

Next was the female witch that stood next to Caoimhe, "Emie Vonnegut will remain for aide."

"Kari Lillegard will stand. Marius will remain."

"Elliot and Riley Harlow will stand. Malakye will remain."

"Jacey and Philomena Stavros will stand. Andrea, Damien, and Daphne will remain."

"Elania will stand." Tiberius finished for those who had someone to account for. Each family would keep at least one heir in the protective boundary of their castle, while sending the others who were old enough to fight. The only reason his daughter, the only heir to their line after himself, was allowed to go was because of her extensive background with handling the ritual that stripped a witch of their powers and the need they had for it to be done correctly.

Valera gave Tiberius a long look before speaking, "I, Valera Konstantinov, will stand." Turning to look at Dean, she addressed him as the leader of the hunters who would be fighting alongside them. "Will all of your people be aiding in the fight?"

Dean thought on the question, taking a moment to process the words that had just gone around the circle of people he was standing with. "Sam, Charlie, and I will be fighting. Kellen doesn't have enough training to be ready for something like this, he can stay and help take care of those who return."

"Fifteen will stand in arms against the rogue witches. Seventeen will remain to tend to those who need healing when we return." Valera spoke the numbers, taking full control over the situation since she would be the one leading them to fight against the rogues. "We will collect the rest of our families and give them instructions. The archangel Gabriel is distracting the rogues and giving us this time to prepare. Let's make this quick so that he isn't doing so for long."

 **Side Note: Was all of that formality toward the end weird? It felt needed to me. They are a group of witches in "charge" of Europe's witch population, figured it called for some formal battle call or something. I don't know.**


	57. Chapter 57

**A/N: GUYS! There are so many things that are going to be happening in the next few chapters and it's just- it's a lot, so be prepared for some feels. Also, new favorites and follows, I LOVE it and I love each and every one of you sticking with this story. Special shout outs to those who responded to my questions from the last chapter.**

 **Awerry: Thank you so much! I'm super happy that you're enjoying my spin on things, thank you so much for the lovely review!**

 **JediCat1965: Thank you! After I went back through and re-read that last chapter, I agree with you, that formality made that ending I think ;) I'm SO glad you're liking my story, thank you for seeing the Supernatural still in it :)**

 **Happygoddess2003: This comment made my heart so happy! I miss Sam and Dean when they get kind of pushed aside too, but I promise things are turning around. There will be more of the Winchester brothers as a main focus soon, there's just a little bit of sad stuff before hand. (Fair warning)**

 **Love love love love love you all! Seriously, all of my love. You have it!**

 **Please keep in mind while you're reading this that the focus is going to jump from person to person because I want to make sure we catch everyone's view of the fight as their experiencing it. Which also means that a lot of this is all happening at the same time and it's all going to happen pretty fast. Hopefully it's not hard to keep up with. I hope you enjoy it :)**

It took an hour to gather everyone, give them their orders, and prepare those leaving. The witches carried little in the form of weaponry, each knowing that their magic would work better than anything else they could bring. The hunters carried knives made of iron and pistol filled with ammunition made of the same material, though they were instructed to only kill if there was no other option. The goal was to capture as many rogues as they could with iron chains and cuffs so that they could no longer fight. They would be left to be stripped of their powers once the battle itself was over. Ana was the only witch that carried a weapon, her gun skills as useful as her powers and her father refused to let her leave without the weapon, wanting to make sure that she had every form of protection she could.

Valera moved around, making sure each person under her command was ready before turning to look at the rest of the Council. "We will see you on the other side."

"Be swift, use your magic wisely." Caoimhe spoke to the group, "Watch out for each other." she added, giving Ana a long look before turning to those who would be staying. "We will be prepared for however our loved ones return." she instructed them softly, knowing that it was mere moments before the group behind her left.

Valera turned to look at those who would stand with her in battle, "We move as one." she repeated the words she'd spoken already twice before, moving to Sam's side since it was her task to teleport him along with her. Ana would take Dean and Connor would take Charlie, the rest were in charge of themselves. With one quick nod the group vanished from the room, appearing in a large field yards in front of the long cabin they had seen in their search for the rogues.

Once the group had adjusted to their surroundings they quickly began to study the land, taking in all that they could so they would be prepared in case they were driven from the more flat land they were gathered on now. Moments passed slowly before Gabriel appeared in front of the group, his face grim, "I'd really love to stay and help you guys tear these witches a new one, but Cas found an angel in Heaven that's working with Gadreel. I need to go."

"Go. Thanks for the help." Ana told him with a small smile, "You and Cas be careful, alright? We'll see you when this is all over." Gabriel gave the witch a wink before disappearing again, leaving the group to deal with the rogue witches he had sufficiently pissed off.

"Think they've figured out that we're here yet?" Riley spoke up, not moving his eyes away from the building down the field from them.

Ana watched the cabin for movement, waiting for a sign that the witches inside were doing something to prepare themselves for an enemy attack, but nothing was giving away the bodies inside. "If they haven't, they're about to." she assured the man, reaching both hands out in front of her. Pausing for a moment she waited to see if Valera would stop her, the elder witch was in charge of what was going on, but when no one tried to stop her the young witch flicked her wrist, fingers curling into her palms as she released her power. At first what spell she had cast didn't seem to do anything, then suddenly the wood near the bottom of structure was taken over by bright orange flames. A sinister smile spread across the witch's face as she watched the flames climb, "They'll figure it out soon enough."

"I like your style, Winchester." Elliot spoke up, his eyes just as focused on the flames as those standing around them. The group was waiting in anticipation for the rogue witches inside to realize the danger and evacuate, that would be their time to move.

The door to the cabin had been thrown open, but when the person on the other side came face to face with the flames the door was immediately shut again. "Remember, take as few lives as possible. We are not murders, we are keepers of the peace." Valera spoke with command, she wouldn't risk the chance of any witch there using black magic to fight against their foes.

Dean scoffed, "Speak for yourself, sister." He muttered, his hand tensing around the grip of his pistol. This was a fight that he had never thought to be prepared for and now that it was ahead of him, he knew that there was no other choice than to make it out of this all alive.

Witches began to appear outside of the cabin in flashes, each one standing to watch the flames climb the walls, reaching for the roof, each set seeming to fight for control to reach the top first. Suddenly the rogues turned around, as if they had sensed the enemy at their backs and were readying themselves to attack. There was a general sound of disgust and hatred released from each rogue as they glared at the Council witches and hunters across from them. The man with silver hair that Ana had seen in her vision stepped forward, taking his position as the leader of the makeshift coven. "Seems our plans have just been moved up in the time frame."

"Oh, good. You've been waiting to have your magic stripped. That makes things so much easier for us." Ana responded, each witch projecting their voice across the field without having to actually raise them. Magic was a great thing.

"You smart mouthed little-"

"Witch?" Ana interrupted, with a smirk. "Well, yes I am. So glad you noticed." With those words she sent a wave of magic at the rogues, just enough to unbalance them. Taking a step forward, she threw another burst of energy at them, "At least one of the two of us can be called that. What's a word for a witch that turns his back on his own kind and bends to the will of an angel?"

Dean watched his daughter, wondering if this was what it was like for Sam to stand by all of those years while he ran his mouth just as Ana was doing now. "I'd go with spineless coward, but that may be letting him off a little easy."

The group of Council witches and hunters had been the only ones to hear Dean, causing a small snicker to run through the group which seemed to irritate the rogue witch further. "Enough talking, girl, let's see which of us is the witch here."

With those words everyone began to move at once. Witches teleported around the field, attacking anyone who wasn't their own. Dean, Sam, and Charlie stayed close together; the disadvantage of being the only humans in the battle meant little to the hunters as long as they had each other in view. None of them would get outnumbered and they could aide each other if the need arose. Dean caught sight of Ana engaging the man that she had been speaking to moments before, each witch attacking the other with magic, but Ana was also using the physical aspect of her hunters training. Just before Dean had to look away to focus on the male witch that appeared in front of him he had seen his daughter land a solid right hook to the man's cheekbone.

* * *

Thankfully the witches and hunters were only outnumbered by two, making the fight nearly even. Elliot and Riley moved as a pair, the brothers knowing that they were more powerful in the other's presence and that together they could take on a rogue that they would otherwise not be able to take on alone. It was an easy thing for witches to be able to sense the amount of power another witch held, making situations like this easier for both sides. The female rogue that appeared in front of the brothers must have decided that they were weak enough for her to take on alone, but the brothers both knew that together the witch stood no chance.

Elliot acted first, wrapping a wave of magic around the rogue that could easily be broken. This was the distraction for Riley, as the younger brother would work up a more powerful spell to drop the witch to her knees. Just like the few times before that they'd used that plan, it worked beautifully. Before the rogue really knew what was going on, she was slammed to the ground as Riley forced her muscles to comply to his command. Elliot moved quickly to apply iron cuffs to the witch, there was no time to gloat as they needed to keep their eyes open for a possible attack or to notice if a fellow witch needed aide.

* * *

Charlie had been attacked first, the short female witch in front of her throwing a spell toward her that the hunter almost hadn't been able to dodge. Sam had quickly moved to help, an iron blade in his hand that he was prepared to do whatever he had to with to protect Charlie. The witch must have sensed him moving up behind her because in the next second she was spun around and holding the youngest Winchester brother in the air with a motion of her hand, forcing a pressure around his throat to cut off his oxygen supply. Charlie gripped tightly onto the iron chain in her hands and made her move once she felt the witch was more focused on Sam. Running toward the rogue, Charlie let go of one end of the chain, swinging it around once to test the weight. When she was finally close enough she whipped it out toward the witch, grinning as the chain met its mark. The thick line of chain made a thudding sound as it made contact with the witch's neck, wrapping around the other side so that Charlie was able to grab it and pull the witch to the ground.

Sam dropped to the ground painfully now that the witch no longer had control over her magic and he gasped for air before giving Charlie a thankful look. His eyes moved quickly behind Charlie and focused on a familiar blond haired woman and the three other witches she was surrounded by. Valera was a strong witch, of that Sam was positive, but taking on three other rogues who seemed to be able to keep up with her had him back up on his feet and running to help. It didn't take him long to reach the group and once he was there by her side the odds turned, the hunter and witch gaining the higher ground.

* * *

Across the field, on the complete other side of the large fight Connor was caught off guard by the rogue witch that stood in front of him. "Victoria?" the name that came out of his mouth was traced with disbelief, this couldn't be who he thought it was.

"Hey there little brother. Miss me?" The woman sneered, not pausing as she attacked the enemy in front of her. There was no mistaking the close blood relation between the pair of witches; they shared the same black hair and blue eyes. There was a clear difference between the two though as they fought with their magic, each one trying to overpower the other's attack, and as their fight continued that difference became clearer as her attacks grew more and more murderous.

His sister had always been a sloppy fighter, Connor figured that out through experience as a child, and it seemed that in the years they had been apart that fact hadn't changed a bit. Victoria was now a little stronger, but no where near as strong as he was and though it seemed she was aiming for his death she was getting no where near her goal. "I should have known you would be caught up in something like this." Connor taunted, knowing that the more mad she got the easier it would be to take her down. "You never could cope with the fact that I got all of the power in the family and none of the darkness that the rest of you had."

"I can still best you." Victoria spat, throwing another spell at him, but she hadn't aimed her hands correctly as it flew past her brother and hit the back of the rogue witch that was fighting against Kari Lillegard.

"We'll see about that." Connor responded with a smug smile, she was still so predictable that it was almost too easy for him to knock her to the ground and hold her there with his magic. Quickly conjuring iron chains around Victoria's body, he relaxed a little, taking the moment to turn around and see how everyone else was handling their own fights.

* * *

Nicholas had stood still when the fight first broke out, watching to see where the rogues would go and which of the people on his side of the fight would fight against an opposing rogue. As the rhythm of battle began to take on a steady beat his eyes landed on his parents, the couple paired off against two rogues and holding their own. He noticed that their odds were about to change as another rogue turned her sights on the group, which caused Nick to make his first move.

Teleporting right into the woman's path he instantly attacked, pushing her back until they were further away from his parents so that he could handle the witch on his own. He figured out soon after engaging that he was evenly matched with the witch in front of him and that made pleased that he had stepped in, his parents couldn't handle three witches of this power and survive it in tact.

* * *

Jacey and Philomena Stavros had given each other a quick glance, communicating love and wishes of good luck before they separated to intercept a rogue of their own. Each sister had teleported toward the outside of the gathering of people, ready to take on any one that had thought to sit on the sidelines and wait out the worst of it. Mena was the eldest of all of her siblings and new that since it was just herself and Jacey in the midsts of battle that it would be her job to make sure that they made it home. Damien and Andrea wouldn't handle it well if either sister were not to return. That was why she worked as quickly as she could to take out her opponent, she wanted to be able to help Jacey should she need it.

Her worries were brought to life shortly after she had finally wrestled the rogue to the ground. The fight had cost her control of her left arm, her shoulder knocked out of place by a blast of energy that she hadn't been able to deflect fast enough. Releasing a long breath, she turned to look for her sister just in time to see Jacey make the mistake of throwing a spell at the short man she was facing off against just as he threw a dark spell himself. The shock of the evil hit her sister square in the chest, her body becoming rigid before losing all control and falling to the ground with a thud that Mena swore she heard from all the way across the field.

* * *

Kari was closest to Ana as the fight broke out, having inserted herself near the younger witch once she had taken on the most powerful witch that was on the rogue's side of the battle. Putting herself between Ana and another rogue that was heading to assist in the fight, she hadn't been paying attention to the amount of power the rogue held and once she was locked in battle it was too late to turn back. Kari Lillegard wasn't the strongest of witches, though what she lacked in power she made up for in brains and that was the only thing that she knew would get her out of the grim situation she had put herself in.

The rogue wasted no time in casting his energy toward her body, taking control of it long enough to merely stop the woman's heart. He was part of a larger plan and none of his time needed to be wasted on the weaker witch who had just fallen at his feet.

* * *

Elania had kept herself toward the outside of the worst of the fight, she needed to keep herself alive and well enough to do the spell that would strip the rogues of their magic once the battle was over. It was for that reason that she had made sure to intercept one of the weakest rogues that was on the field. Valera had been clear in giving her orders, she was the only one left to carry on her line and that meant more than Ela being a hero. Her fight with the rogue witch was so unbalanced power wise that it took the Isauricus witch mere minutes to knock the rogue witch out, conjure iron cuffs around the other woman's wrists, and turn her attention to the fight around her. So much was happening, Ana was now taking on two rogue witches with a third headed her way, but since the young witch seemed to be handling the situation fine Ela turned her attention further to the other side. As she caught sight of Gavin and Dallis, her heart sunk into her stomach at the sight of what was going on.

* * *

Gavin and Dallis Calhoun had been holding their own against the two rogue witches they were faced off against, the couple having the upper hand of years together, fighting side by side, and it was clear that the two they were up against did not have that experience. Gavin had caught sight of their eldest son taking on a third rogue that had been headed their way and was filled with a moment of pride before his focus was pulled back to the witch in front of him.

Their fight was going rather smoothly, both pairs of witches being able to dodge and attack, neither being able to get the advantage on the other. Until the male rogue that Gavin was facing off against conjured a long blade out of the air and sent it flying into his abdomen. Letting out a grunt in surprise, the elder man fell to his knees, barely hearing the sound of his son calling out to him.

* * *

Dean had been trying to get the damn iron cuffs he held in one hand hooked onto the witch, make that bitch, that just wouldn't stop with the damn spells. She was having enough trouble trying to hold her own as the hunter physically attacked her, the witch had no idea how to fend of violence that wasn't created by magic, but she was giving it a good attempt. Quickly moving around the witch's back, he knocked her legs out from under her and used the spare moment to check on Ana, who was now surrounded by three witches. Flicking his eyes over to Connor, he hoped that the other witch would be able to help Ana soon because though it looked like she was holding her own, there was no telling how long that was going to last. His thoughts were forced to refocus on the witch in front of him, he needed to get the damn cuffs on her so he could go help Ana.

* * *

Fighting against the older, silver haired witch, Ana had little trouble. He was strong, but she was stronger by far and it was easy to parry his attack with defensive magic and then return his attack with one of her own. That was until the second rogue had joined their fight, things became a little harder; she was actually having to work to keep herself on the top end of the fight. Still though, she had no doubt that she would be the one to come out on top. She was so focused on the two in front of her that she didn't even sense the third coming up behind her and before she could even get a grasp of what was going on she was being thrown to the ground while simultaneously being silenced. The three witches were working as one and Ana could only stare in horror, listening to the spell that they chanted together. Whatever the spell was it was nothing she had heard before, leaving her curious to what they were trying to do to her, but that curiosity was soon squashed as a sharp pain ripped through her stomach and quickly spread through her body. The magic that was being used to keep her still and silent was strong, no matter how much she needed to scream or how she wished she could fight back, her body wasn't given the chance to respond.

Connor had finally fought his sister to the ground, iron chains wrapped around her body, making her unable to move. He was about to gloat when a strong pain ripped it's way through his body and he screamed out in pain, falling to his knees just as another scream was released across the field. Part of him was certain that it was Nick calling out for his father, but there was little focus being spared elsewhere as he turned his attention toward Ana, seeing that the pain he was feeling was coming from their bond. "Ana!" He screamed out, turning to run across the field.

At his initial scream almost all attention had turned to Connor before quickly being averted to where Nicholas was violently attacking the witch that had just killed his father while his mother sobbed over her husband's body. When Connor cried out for Ana, four sets of eyes were quickly turned toward where they had last seen the young witch, the three hunters and one witch realized what was happening and began to sprint in the same direction.

Valera noticed as she ran that the third rogue that was attacking had been the one she had seen Kari fighting with not long before and with a glance to the left she spotted the limp body of the woman lying on the hard ground. That made for two of her coven she had seen dead and she wasn't going to let Ana be the third. Teleporting so that she was beside Connor the two witches attacked at the same time, throwing their magic at the rogues and forcing two of them to turn their attention away from Ana to defend themselves.

Dean watched as Connor and Val began their own fights with two of the three that had been attacking his daughter, but his eyes moved to stare at the man left that was still attacking Ana, her screams now filling the field since they were no longer being silenced by one of the other witches. Picking up his pace, Dean pulled the iron blade he had hidden on the inside of his jacket free and advanced toward the rogue, hoping to catch him off guard so that he could finish the other man. The rogue must have sensed him because just as Dean was about to strike, the witch turned around, a spell on the tip of his tongue being cut short by the blade that the hunter had just buried into his chest. With the man bleeding to death on the ground in front of him, Dean heard Ana's screams fade to whimpers of pain and he dropped to her side just as Sam and Charlie did the same across from him. "Ana?" he questioned, hoping that she was alright, but instead of being met with an answer he watched as her body began to shake violently.

"She's going into shock." Sam spoke in fear, knowing that none of this could be good for the baby. Looking around for someone to help, he first saw Kari's body across the field and then the two mourning witches bowed over the body of their loved one. Val and Connor were both still locked in a fight with one of the rogues that had hurt Ana, it looked like they had already taken care of the other. They needed to get Ana back to the castle so that one of the witches there could check on her though and with his two 'go to' witches too busy to do so, Sam continued to look around for someone who was done fighting that could do so. "Riley!" He called, eyes finally landing on a witch that he recognized. The younger man turned to look at Sam, taking in Ana on the ground and the status of Connor before turning to talk to the man beside him that the hunter thought was Riley's brother.

Suddenly Riley was crouched beside Dean, looking down at Ana. "I'll take her to Iona. Are you three coming with?" He looked up at the hunters around him.

"Take Dean." Sam instructed, knowing his brother would be no use to them there. "Charlie and I will stay to help everyone else." he explained, not giving Dean a chance to speak against him before he stood and pulled Charlie to her feet. "Go."

Riley didn't waste any more time, grabbing onto Dean's shoulder and Ana's wrist he teleported the Winchesters away and back to the castle. The moment they appeared Iona was moving toward them, pushing him out of the way so that she could get to Ana.

"What happened?" She aimed the question at Dean, kneeling at the man's side as she checked the unconscious witch on the ground. Ana's heart was still beating, there was no bleeding, she didn't seem to be in any duress, she needed to know what happened before she could move any further. Certain spells could be transferable if another's magic came in contact with it and she knew that putting herself in danger would weaken their chances of healing the others that came back. Iona was basically leading the team of witches that had been left behind.

"We're not sure." Riley began to speak when it was clear that Dean was too focused on Ana to open his mouth, "She was surrounded by three of them, whatever they did must have hurt really bad because once she had her voice back all she did was scream."

Iona swore under her breath, throwing caution to the wind as she reached her powers out to check on Ana. Her body was fine, nothing was broken or damaged, the only thing wrong with the young witch was the shock that the pain had caused to her body. It had been so extreme that her body had basically shut itself down. Moving her focus toward Ana's womb, Iona hoped that the baby that was nestled within was as physically healthy as her mother. "Oh, Goddess." the words unwillingly slipped out of her mouth as she was hit with the realization of what the spell had done.

"What?" Dean questioned, Iona's words pulling him back to what was going on around him, "What's wrong?"

Tears filled Iona's eyes as she lifted them to meet Dean's. "It's the baby. She's gone."

* * *

Connor had stayed long enough to take care of the last rogue that had hurt his soulmate. With both him and Valera working to finish the man off it didn't take long, but every second that passed that he wasn't next to Ana felt like torture. He watched as Valera wrapped the rogue in a spell, forcing him to the ground and knocking him unconscious. The two shared a look before Connor teleported, knowing that everyone would understand that he needed to find out what had happened to Ana. Appearing in the meeting hall in the castle that had been transformed into a large infirmary, he was met with Iona's words.

"It's the baby. She's gone."

The words seemed to echo in his head. _The baby. She's gone. Gone. Gone._ The daughter that they hadn't planned for at all, the tiny baby that they had been growing more and more excited about by the day, the child that he and his soulmate had created was gone. Connor fell to his knees, tunnel vision focused only on Ana's face. This would tear her apart.

 **A/N(2): And the heartbreak has occurred. For me at least, don't know about you guys. Also, random tidbit, I finally figured out the line separator thing and am extremely thankful I did. Only took me fifty-seven chapters.**

 **Anyway, let me know what you think!**


	58. Chapter 58

**A/N: And just when I thought I had lost the spark I originally felt for this story it comes back with a vengeance. If my urge to write has anything to say about how fast these next few chapters are going to get up, be expecting one every couple of days. I'm hoping to stick to that because all of these ideas are begging to be let out of my head and I'm really excited to see what you guys think of the things that are going to happen next. Also, there's still some bouncing around in this chapter, but it's not as crazy as it was in the last one.**

Fifteen of the seventeen rogue witches that had been fought against that day had made it out alive. They had been completely stripped of their powers shortly after Connor had left the field, leaving the rest of their task in the capable hands of the witches that had fought alongside him. The two rogue witches that had been murdered received no trail for a wrongful death, no one could argue that Dean or Nicholas had done anything wrong in avenging the torture of one witch and death of another. Shortly after Iona had informed everyone about the loss of Ana's baby Nicholas and Dallis had appeared, the body of the father and husband they had just lost on the ground in front of them. Fenrick and Iona had been quick to react, moving away from Ana and becoming lost in the grief of losing their father.

It wasn't long after the sobs of the Calhoun family filled the room that the rest of the witches began to return. At first the people who had missed the battle were hopeful that they'd only had the one casualty, but that hope was quickly ruined as Ela and Mena both appeared with limp bodies in their arms. Five people moved at once as recognition of the blank, still faces set in. Their father, Leon, was the first to reach Mena moving to take Jacey from her arms. Mena didn't move to meet any of the eyes of her family, not strong enough to witness the blame that would be put on her for not protecting her younger sister. Four pair of arms suddenly wrapped around her, causing her to raise her head just enough to see that both of her youngest siblings were hugging themselves to her side as they cried for the loss of Jacey.

Across the room two men stood in shock, side by side, as they fought to understand the sight in front of them. Ela had moved toward them with Kari held close to her chest, her heart brimming with sorrow as she watched the faces of Harald and Marius melt into expressions of pain. When it was clear that neither man was going to be able to support the weight of the woman in her arms, Ela moved to the nearest cot and placed the older woman's still body on it. Both men moved to kneel by the side of the cot, each of their bodies beginning to shake with the force of their sobs.

Caoimhe looked around the room, taking in all of the grief that was filling the place. Sam and Charlie had been brought back with Val, the group moving over to where Dean now sat by Ana. Kellen had been trying to pull Connor back to his senses and pulled the witch to his feet so that they could join the rest of them at Ana's side. With tears in his eyes Kellen explained to the others what Iona had told them, watching as neither Connor or Dean were able to think past the raging emotions inside of them. The shock that took over Sam's face could have been enough to knock anyone off of their feet. Giving herself one last moment, she looked to Niall who had moved to stand by her side and gave him a small nod. They would properly grieve their dead, then they would decide their next move.

* * *

A day had passed since the fight with the rogues. They had buried the three witches who hadn't made it back home alive, giving them a proper witches farewell. Ana had woken up shortly before they had planned to gather for the funerals and it hadn't taken her long to realize something was extremely wrong. Connor had done what he could to explain what had happened, but once the words were out of his mouth Ana had asked him to leave the room. He had tried to put up a fight, knowing that he shouldn't leave her to grieve alone, but she refused to even look at him.

There was no fight left in Connor as he joined the rest of the coven to say their last goodbyes to their coven mates, he could feel Ana's grief and anger through their bond even though she was trying to hide it and it broke what little composure he had left.

Once the funerals were over Sam suggested that they return to the bunker, that they could all use the comfort of the place and that Ana needed to be somewhere familiar. Dean and Connor agreed, neither man really having an idea what to do otherwise and they all moved to gather their things. When Sam had explained his plan to Val, she offered to help teleport the group back to their home, knowing that Ana would most likely not be up to helping Connor with the task.

It had taken Connor little persuading to convince Ana to let them take her back to the bunker, it seemed that she didn't care where she was as long as she could be left alone. Since neither of them had anything to pack they were the first to meet Valera back in the now empty gathering hall. The space had been converted back to its original look of pews and the long table at the front. All signs that there had been injured and deceased people there the day before were gone. Thankfully it didn't take long for the others to join them and without any words being spoken the group grasped hands and disappeared from the room.

Ana took one look around the familiar library before turning and leaving for her room. No part of her was ready to face her family after what had happened, she could barely stand being by herself, adding other people on top of that would just end in disaster. She paid little attention to anything until she was in her room and the door was shut behind her, taking a minute to lock it so that no one could come in. Taking a step away from the door her body began to tremble with silent sobs before she fell to the floor, her legs curling up toward her chest and her arms wrapped around them as she tried to close off the very real, empty hole inside of her.

* * *

Dean hadn't said much to anyone as his worry for his daughter escalated. He could only imagine how she was feeling, but the fact that she was closing herself off from Connor along with the rest of them really solidified how bad off she was. The family had spread apart almost the instant after Ana had left the room, the only exception being Val and Sam which Dean had left alone so that they could talk. Ignoring his bedroom door as he passed it, he headed straight for the garage, knowing that the only thing that would be able to keep his head level was getting in his Baby and going for a long drive. The normal feeling of joy as he looked at the Impala was gone, nothing could break through the sorrow and darkness that surrounded his heart. Settling behind the wheel he gripped onto the steering wheel as if it were his only lifeline, placing the key in the ignition and letting the familiar sound of the engine calm him slightly. Without another thought he opened the large door to the garage and peeled out into the night.

Only when he was on the open road did Dean let his mind run wild with the worry and anger that had been plaguing him since he had watched the three rogue witches attack Ana. All of this was far more than he ever thought he would have to deal with as a father. Chasing off boys, making sure she stayed out of trouble, and was at least a halfway functioning adult; that's what normal dad's had to worry about. It seemed that he had traded all of that in for having a daughter who was a witch with some crazy prophecy hanging over her head along with all of the trouble from the demons and the angels. Never, in any scenario that he had concocted of what it would be like to one day meet his daughter did he think that he would have to figure out a way to console her over the loss of her unborn child.

They had no real answers to what happened to the baby. According to Iona it was as if there was zero sign that Ana had ever been pregnant, like the baby had never existed even though both witches and angels had been able to say otherwise. Dean didn't know much about any form of biological science, most of his experiments geared toward making things explode, but he was certain that at just two months after conception a baby couldn't survive outside of the womb. So what was the point of taking the baby? If they wanted the child gone there were so many other ways to go about it, but to wipe out any sign that Ana had been pregnant in the first place seemed to be taking it a step further. A step that led him to believe that the plan wasn't to merely take that life, but to take it away from them, from Ana. Part of him wanted to believe that some weird form of magic had kept the little girl alive and that they would be able to find her, to right everything and put her back inside of Ana to grow.

 _God._ What was he even thinking? He had no idea if anything like that was even possible and everything was still too fresh to breach the idea with anyone else. Pressing his foot further down on the accelerator, he pushed the car to speed down the abandoned highway, trying his best to let everything just fade to the back of his mind so he could relax. _Yeah right._

* * *

Sam and Valera had watched as everyone else left the library. "Thanks for the help." Sam spoke first, giving the shorter woman a soft smile. Things were going to be a wreck for both the hunters and the witches after the fight they had just lived through, there was no telling when he would see her again. Though Dean liked to tease him about the way he'd lose himself watching Val do magic or talk about something, Sam just enjoyed the presence of the witch and the easy friendship they had begun to develop was something he was happy about.

"Of course." Valera returned the smile before letting her eyes wander around the room, thinking about all of the information that was held within the books. "Even though the threat is gone, you all are more than welcome to come visit or if you need anything, we'll be around to help." She paused, turning her attention back to the giant of a man in front of her with a sigh. "It's going to be a while before anything is anywhere near normal for any of us, but we still have each other. With Ana and Connor connecting us all, we're basically family." Mentally cursing herself for rambling, she took in a deep breath, focusing her eyes on the pain filled hazel ones across from her. Taking ahold of his hand gently, she gave it a soft squeeze, "If you need to talk, know that I'm here. Alright?" With those words she squeezed his hand one last time before teleporting away.

Sam stared at the empty space where Val had just been, a ghost feeling of her small fingers wrapped around his hand had him wishing that she'd come back. Maybe Dean had been right, not that he would ever admit it to his older brother, but that seemed a little more forward than just friendship. Then again, he was always pretty clueless when it came to the awkward stage before a relationship would either form or not. Blinking his eyes a few consecutive times, he turned his focus around the room and then moved toward the hallway to go search for Dean.

* * *

Connor had planned to go straight to his room, to give Ana the space she obviously wanted, but the pain that rolled through their connection had him walking toward her room before he had really processed the direction he was headed. How could she expect him to leave her alone to deal with this? He couldn't, it was that simple. There was no way he could stand back and let her try to process her grief on her own, he loved her too much to do that. Stopping in front of her closed door, he swore that he could hear her sniffle on the other side of the wood, trying her best to make as little sound as possible. Sucking in a deep breath to give him strength, Connor reached for the doorknob and tried it, not surprised when he found that she had locked it. "Ana?"

There was a pause before her soft voice was heard, "Go away, Connor."

Closing his eyes, he talked himself up knowing that going in there wasn't going to be easy, but he wouldn't turn away now. This whole situation was like deja vu, it seeming almost identical to the time he had to talk her down after a fight she had with Dean. That night was the first time they had kissed and now they were both trying to deal with the pain of their loss. With a quick movement of his fingers he had the door unlocked and opened before she could do something further to keep him out. Nothing could have prepared him for the sight of his soulmate curled up on the floor, her eyes red and rimmed with tears on the verge of following those that had fallen already. Slowly walking in, he closed the door behind him and took a step closer to her. She didn't move, didn't do anything but stare at his feet and how broken she looked shattered the thin wall he had built inside of himself to force himself to keep going. "Ana?"

"I don't want you here." Cold words came out of her mouth, her eyes not leaving the floor because she knew that if she looked at his face that she would crumble, that her plan to keep him away from her would fall completely apart. "Go away."

Anger hit Connor like a kick to the chest, though the anger was not his own, but Ana's reaching him through their bond and the force of it had him slumping to the ground. Landing on his knees just in front of where she laid, tears began to slip from his eyes and uncontrollable sobs shook his body. Of course she was angry at him, he hadn't been able to protect her and their child like he swore he would. Why would she want to be anywhere near him. "I'm so sorry. I failed you both." he forced the words past his cries, ready to beg her for forgiveness.

Ana winced, this is what she had been afraid of. Her family had a sick habit of blaming themselves for everything and she wasn't prepared to deal with the blame that Connor and, most likely, Dean would place on themselves for what had happened. She'd already played the arguments out in her head; they hadn't moved fast enough, they should have been by her side the entire time, they should have protected her. In truth, it was Ana's fault. Her ego had gotten the best of her. _She_ should have sensed the third witch before they were able to close their circle around her, _she_ should have been able to protect herself and the baby. _She_ had failed. Failed her family, failed her daughter and they had lost three others, she had failed the witches of the High Council as well.

"It's not your fault." Connor spoke, wondering if she had even realized that she had been speaking out loud. As far as he knew she hadn't slept since she had become conscious the day before and he knew for a fact that she hadn't eaten, she seemed dazed and even in his grief stricken state he could tell that she was lost in her head. "It's not your fault." he repeated the words softly as he moved to wrap her in his arms.

* * *

Kellen had been sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at a blank space on the wall across from him. Thoughts were rushing through his head, some so fast that it took him multiple times to think about it to understand what he was trying to tell himself. _How could things turn so bad so fast? Where was Chuck in all of this? Who the hell had so little heart that they could do something like take an unborn child from it's mother._ There was no mistaking that he was furious. Of course he was still sad for Ana, she was family and he understood that she was in pain, but he was mostly just caught up in the rage at the rogue witches that had taken the precious life that had been growing within his friend.

Before that anger could grow any further a knock at his door pulled him from his thoughts. "Come in." he called, standing up as Sam walked into his room. "Hey, what's going on?" He was on friendly enough terms with the older man, but they only ever really talked when they were already in a space together.

"Have you seen Dean?" Sam questioned, he'd already stopped and asked Charlie who had secluded herself away in her room. He had pretended that he hadn't noticed her tattered copy of The Hobbit resting by her side when he left, knowing that she needed time to process what had happened just as the rest of them did.

Kellen shook his head, "No, but I'm pretty sure I heard the Impala start up in the garage." he offered, noticing the dark bags under Sam's eyes for the first time. None of them had gotten much rest the night before, that was obvious.

Giving a small nod in thanks, the hunter turned toward the door to leave, but paused and turned back to look at Kellen. "Hey, if you need anyone to talk to, don't be afraid to come knock on my door." he extended the invitation, knowing that the younger man was closest with Ana and Connor, but that the couple would be focusing on themselves for a while. With a small smile, he left the room, hoping that Dean hadn't left the bunker.

* * *

It had only been a few minutes since Sam had left her room and she had picked her book back up, but Charlie just couldn't focus on the words. She had read the book so many times that should could have just flipped through the pages and known what was going on without actually needing to read it, but that took the enjoyment out of it. Maybe that was the problem. There was no joy in her system in that moment and that ruined whatever euphora the book would normally create for her.

There had never been a doubt in her mind that hunting was dangerous. After the incident with her arm the first time she had met the Winchesters it was a lesson she had quickly learned, but even knowing that, what had happened to Ana was so much worse than anything she could have imagined happening. It even contended with being tortured by Lucifer himself. Charlie had no idea if the younger woman she had grown to love would be able to survive it.

* * *

For a short period of time Ana gave in to her need to be comforted, letting Connor hold her for a while before she asked him to leave. It hurt too much to know that he was in pain because she couldn't do the one thing a mother was expected to do and that was protect her child. It took a little fight to get him out of her room, but he finally complied and left her alone. Ana closed the door behind him then turned, made her way toward her bed, and fell on it, no longer caring much about her own well being.

The thoughts that began to fill her head were familiar, words unburied from a place they had been hidden in for so long and as she felt like she was falling deeper into the darkness of her pain, Ana welcomed them back with open arms. _Weak. Pathetic. Useless. Failure._

 _Failure._

 _ **FAILURE.**_

That one word repeated over and over and over until it was as common to her as her own name. That's what she was, a failure. Seven digits branding themselves to the skin of her eyelids and she could feel them running through her veins as if they were lit by fire. She didn't deserve to be part of the family that had saved the world countless times, part of a prophetic couple that was meant to put an end to the evil that was Michael and Lucifer. She didn't deserve to be with them at all.

* * *

Gadreel had been impatient for news on their plan. He knew that the High Council had confronted the rogue witches who were following his command, but he had yet to hear if the battle had been a success or not. Word had gotten around that Ana and Connor were still alive, but that didn't mean that the entire thing had been a loss. There was one major part to his plan that had to be followed through and as he stood in the same forest he had used for his meetings with the Council witch many times, the angel grew impatient. When the air grew thick with the scent of magic, he tensed. "What took you so long?"

The male witch frowned, "The entire Council is in the process of mourning, it's not exactly easy to teleport out in the middle of it all and keep my cover." he snapped, "That is, unless you no longer need me and you're ready for my cover to be blown."

"Your attitude is unneeded." Gadreel stated, knowing that the witch knew as well as he did that they couldn't risk him being caught yet. The information the witch brought to him would ultimately help him finish his task and that was more important than wasting a little time. "What news do you have for me?"

"The Good and Mohr witch live to see another day, but three of the other witches were taken down in the battle. It's shaken the Council, but also given them something more to fight for should this come back around to them." The witch paused, a slow smile spreading across his lips, "The child is gone, just as you had asked us to do."

Gadreel studied the man in front of him a moment, his plan had not completely failed then, that was good. "That portion of the plan was executed exactly to my demands?" he had to make sure that nothing went wrong, this was going to turn the odds in his favor.

"Down to the reaction of Connor and the Winchesters."

This was it, Gadreel had finally caught the break he had been waiting for after all of his plans had been continued to be ruined by the damned Winchesters. Now he would be able to raise his brothers while the hunters were too worried about the loss in the family and then when the right time came, he would take his place on his brother's' side and give them the weapon that would grant them even more power. The only thing he needed to do now was make sure Connor and Ana were both dead by the time Michael and Lucifer were risen.

* * *

He took his time, but when Dean finally returned to the bunker that night and made his way into the library he wasn't at all surprised to see his brother sitting at his favorite table with a book in his hand. There was no doubt that Sam had wasted little time before getting to work trying to find some answers about the spell that had been used against Ana. "Any word from her?" he questioned, taking off his coat and setting it on the back of the chair across from Sam's.

The younger brother looked up from his book and shook his head, "No. I saw Connor walking down the hall toward his room a while ago, but other than that everyone else has pretty much kept to themselves." Furrowing his brow, Sam studied Dean before opening his mouth again, "Where'd you go?"

Heaving a sigh, Dean pulled out the chair and sat in it, his head tipping back and his eyes focusing on the ceiling. "Just for a drive. Needed to clear my head."

Sam grunted in approval, knowing that if he had a fix for the mess of his own thoughts that he wouldn't be adding more to the chaos by reading lore on dark magic. He saw no other path to follow at the moment, nothing about the fact that every sign of Ana's pregnancy had just up and vanished seemed right to him and he was certain that there had to be an explanation for it somewhere in the lore. Maybe he could give Valera a call and see if she knew anything. "Are you gonna go check on Ana?" he questioned, knowing that Dean was itching to do so.

He had been considering the pros and cons of doing just that since he had turned the Impala around to head back home. He probably wouldn't get any rest that night until he did check in on her, possibly try to get her to eat something and then sleep herself, but if the way she had reacted to Connor yesterday was anything to go by she definitely wouldn't want to see him. Closing his eyes, Dean rubbed his hands over his face before nodding, "Yeah, I will." With the decision made, the eldest Winchester stood from his chair and made his way out of the room, down the hall, and to Ana's bedroom door. Knocking softly, he hoped that he wouldn't wake her up if she was sleeping. When no response came he turned the doorknob and pushed the door open slowly, being able to make out the shadow of her resting body laying on the bed.

"I don't feel like talking, dad." Her voice was hoarse from all of the crying and she hoped that he would just leave her alone.

"We don't have to talk." Dean assured her, knowing that she was just as stubborn as he was when it came to talking about feelings and feelings like these were the worst for them to try to talk about. "I just wanted to see if you needed anything. You haven't eaten in almost a full day, can I bring you something?"

"I'll eat something in the morning. Now, please, leave."

His heart broke all over again thinking about the pain she was going through, the sound of her voice giving away that she had been spending most of her time crying. She would never recover fully from this, he knew that, but he hoped that over time she would learn to live with it because if she continued on the way she was now she wouldn't live much longer. With those thoughts in mind he retreated from her room, allowing her to have this time to grieve without feeling as if she had to answer to him. This was going to take time, he reminded himself that, and he would give her as much time as he could before he stepped in to make sure she was taking care of herself.


	59. Chapter 59

Laying in bed surrounded in the darkness of her room, Ana ignored everyone that stopped by her door. It had been three days since she had let Dean come in and speak to her, since then she had locked the rest of them out even going so far as to place the strongest spell she could muster on the door so that Connor couldn't break through or teleport in. All of the others in the bunker had stopped by to try to get her to let them in; a five person round of 'good cop/bad cop' was playing outside of her door. Charlie and Sam both taking the calmer side, trying to coerce her out with food or coffee. Then there was Connor, Dean and Kellen who had first started off trying to be calm, but when she wouldn't even respond to them each man quickly lost control of their anger and began to yell, bang, and threaten if she didn't let them in.

None of it phased her, not much at least. She barely moved, still facing the wall, still wearing the same clothes that she had worn during the battle with the rogues. There was not an ounce of motivation left in her body to do anything but keep herself away from her family. She just wanted to be alone for the foreseeable future.

* * *

"Days." Dean spat, "It's been days and she refuses to answer any of us, she hasn't eaten or drank anything. We've tried everything else, you've even tried to break past whatever spell she has up and nothing is working." He pointed at Connor who had called his plan an over exaggeration. "But the first time I offer up an idea that might actually work and I'm the one that's crossing some imaginary line?! We have no idea what shape she's in! You know as well as I do what could happen if she goes off of the deep end! Do you really want to risk that?"

Connor sighed, "Dean, if she were doing anything like that I would feel it through our bond. She's doing nothing to block me out of that, I feel every ounce of pain and grief and anger that she's feeling. Ana's done nothing to harm herself."

The hunter pushed himself up out of the chair he had been sitting in and moved away from the table, "That doesn't mean shit right now, you and I both know that." Shaking his head, Dean spun back around to glare at the witch, "I'm going to do this whether you like it or not."

Before Connor could argue the two were separated by the golden haired archangel appearing between them. "You rang?" Gabriel questioned, turning to look at Dean. It didn't take him long to pick up the tension in the room, part of that being the expressions on Sam, Charlie, and Kellen's face as they sat staring at the two men on either side of him. "What's going on?"

"You've missed out on a lot." Dean spoke through gritted teeth. They had tried to contact both Cas and Gabe after things had settled slightly once they were home, but it seemed that their prayers weren't being heard.

Gabriel rolled his eyes, "Excuse you, but Cassie and I were trying to track down the line of angels in Heaven that are working for Gadreel. It seems that he's turned more of them against us than we originally thought." He took another look around the room, noticing that Ana wasn't among those sitting there. "What exactly _did_ we miss?"

"Not everyone made it back from the fight with the rogue witches." Sam spoke, watching as both Dean and Connor choked up at the thought of the loss they were all still trying to process. The pain of it hadn't faded any, but they had to shift their focus to Ana seeing as how she was still with them.

"Ana?" Gabriel was instantly filled with fear, he should have felt something if she had gotten fatally hurt during the battle.

Connor pulled in a shaky breath, "The baby."

The archangel visibly deflated at the news, "What happened?" his words held a hint of anger, someone had harmed the child that was growing in the woman who he had claimed as his favorite witch and no one screwed with the people Gabriel cared about.

"Ana was surrounded by three rogues, they did some spell that wiped any sign of the baby from her body. The witch that checked on her said it was as if she had never been pregnant in the first place." Dean answered, forcing himself to keep his cool as he explained. "Which leads us to the problem we're having now. She's locked herself in her room, put up some crazy strong spell that not even Connor can break through, and she's been in there for days. I want you to bust in. Archangel power trumps crazy powerful witch magic, right?"

"Unless she's got sigils up or holy fire waiting for me I shouldn't have a problem getting in." Gabe looked around the room, none of them were handling the situation well at all. "I'll go talk to her." he assured them before flying out of the library and landing in Ana's room. Though it was dark in the room the archangel was easily able to see the young witch laying on her bed, her eyes open though it looked as if they weren't actually seeing anything. "Oh, princess." he sighed, she was a wreck. Her face was pale, her hair was greasy, and she just looked so fragile.

Ana should have been expecting this, there was no way that Dean or Connor would just let her be. She should have known that when she hadn't been assaulted by the loud knocks on her door that they were planning something. "Why can't I just be left alone?" she muttered, wishing that she had been prepared for one of the angels to try to talk to her, but honestly she had been so lost in her pain that she'd forgotten that neither Cas or Gabe had any idea what happened.

"Because you've locked yourself in here for days and everyone is worried about you." Gabriel stated matter-of-factly, "Now get up. You are in serious need of a shower and food." He fully understood that she was grieving, but he always prefered tough love to coddling in situations like this.

Eyes slowly blinking, she didn't even glance in the angel's direction, "Just go away." her response was clipped. Was it too much to just be left alone, after what she had been through you think that everyone would be alright with her doing whatever she needed to try and move past it.

"No can do, kiddo. You either get up and at least eat something or I'm going to bypass the lovely spell you've placed on the door so Dean, Connor, and Kellen can come in to deal with you." He knew better than to ask Sam or Charlie to be tough with her, neither of them would be able to keep it up long.

"Or you could get the hell out." She snapped and threw a surge of power out at the angel. They had no right to tell her to do anything and even if Gabriel's powerful grace could contend, even overpower her magic, she just wanted him to leave.

Gabe barely budged when her power hit him, she hadn't used a strong attack and he hoped that meant she wasn't actually trying to hurt him. If that was what she had been trying to do this whole thing was worse than he had expected. "Anastasia, that's enough. You're grieving, I understand that, but that doesn't give you the right to ignore the basic needs of a human body. In case you hadn't noticed, you're not the only one feeling pain in this family and you're not making that any easier for the others by acting like some potential suicide risk! What do you think it would do to us if you just gave up? Let yourself starve to death in here and ignored the pleas of the people who love you? This loss isn't just yours, it's all of ours, and if you don't get out of this room to take care of yourself we're going to lose you too!" The fact that she had still yet to even look at him sent his anger over the edge. He quickly forced himself into her line of sight and met her red eyes with a glare, "Is that what you want?!"

Standing up quickly, she returned the angel's glare. "No! What I want is to be left the hell alone!" The room began to shift and she had to focus really hard to keep herself on her feet, between standing up too fast and having not eaten in days it seemed that the toll was being taken on her body. "Is that just too much to ask for?" she had thought the words would come out angier, but she was slowly losing control of her body.

"Ana!" Gabriel lunged forward just as her eyes rolled back in her head, her body beginning to fall toward the ground. He caught her before she hit the floor, quickly setting her down on the bed before turning toward the door and waving the spell away. Dean and Connor had been waiting outside for a while, listening in on their argument and now that Ana had just proved that she was in as bad of a shape as he thought she was he knew that they needed to be a part of what he did next. "Get in here!" He called to them, turning his attention back to the unconscious witch.

Connor didn't waste any time opening the door and storming into the room, "Did you really have to yell at her like that?" he questioned, moving to sit down on the bed next to Ana.

"Screw that, what just happened?" Dean fully supported the argument Gabriel had been presenting to Ana, it would have been the same one he argued had he been able to get in the room. The only thing he worried about now was why his daughter was out cold.

Gabe sighed, "She fainted. Days without proper nutrients will do that to a human." he studied her a moment before turning to look at Dean. "I can heal her, get her back in tip top shape, but if she doesn't want to take better care of herself it won't be long before she's like this again."

Connor turned to look at Dean, knowing that they needed to let Gabriel heal Ana so that they could talk to her about what she was doing to herself without having to worry about her passing out again.

"Do it." Dean told the angel, his eye's meeting Connor's and they shared a look of understanding. They wouldn't let her get this bad again, even if they had to tie her down and force feed her, she wouldn't be allowed to grow this weak again. There was no telling what was going to happen next in the world and they couldn't risk Ana not being able to protect herself should something big happen.

With a quick nod Gabe touched his fingers to Ana's forehead and used his grace to heal her without waking her up. "She needs to sleep so I'm going to leave her like this. That also gives you guys some time to figure out how you're going to fix all of this." he gestured toward Ana with a wave of his hand as he looked at the other two men in the room. "I need to get back to Heaven. Pray if you need us." He added before disappearing from the room.

The remaining men took a moment to study the witch laying on the bed, the only light in the room filtering in from the hallway. "How _are_ we supposed to fix this?" Connor asked, knowing that he had enough trouble getting through everyday himself, but now he was supposed to push Ana to do the same.

"I don't know." Dean spoke truthfully. Getting a person through coming back from the dead, from hell? He could do that, but this- this was so much more than he had ever had to prepare for. "She's hopefully going to sleep for a while, let's go see if any of the other's have an idea of where to go from here."

With one last long look at the sleeping woman, both men slowly moved to leave the room. Their family wouldn't make it through this if they didn't get everyone on the same path, a path that would lead them to healing. The only thing working against them other than the general stubbornness of everyone involved was time. Would they have enough time to figure this out? Gadreel still had a plan to raise Michael and Lucifer, if they weren't in a better place by the time that happened, there was little to no hope that they would win.

* * *

The first sound to escape Ana's lips in hours was a groan, one that clearly expressed how unready she was to wake up. Pushing herself up on her arms, she glanced around the room before her eyes landed on the clock. Not that she had any idea what time it had been when Gabriel had appeared in her room, but if the feeling in her body was anything to go by she had been asleep for hours. Testing her limits, she pushed herself into a sitting position and realized that she felt physically fine; no longer weak. It was the freedom from the poor physical state she had let herself fall into that helped clear Ana's mind and she knew that there was only one option. Her family wanted her to come to terms with what had happened, but she couldn't do that with them all breathing down her neck.

Her decision was quickly made, now all she had to do was gather all of her things and get out of the bunker before anyone noticed. Grabbing the duffle bag that she kept on the floor by her closet she began to throw things inside, not bothering to even look at the pieces of clothing she was grabbing. Moving around to the other side of the room she grabbed the pistol on her bedside table, pausing to drop the magazine to check how many rounds it held. With a quick nod she pushed the mag back into place, dropped the gun in her bag, and then grabbed the extra box of ammo she kept hidden under her bed for emergencies. Picking the bag up again, she moved it toward the vanity where she kept things like her hair brush and the small amount of makeup she owned. Placing anything she thought she might need in the bag she was about to zip the bag up when she was frozen in place by her reflection in the mirror. Ana heaved a sigh, she looked like hell, and if she planned on getting around without drawing too much attention to herself this wasn't going to work. Grimacing at the thought that she would need to take a shower and that it would eat up her time, she also knew that there was really no other choice. Moving back to her closet Ana picked out a clean pair of jeans, tee shirt, and a pull over hoodie. With her last stop being at her dresser for socks, underwear, and a clean bra she was ready to get through the quickest shower she would probably ever take. She opened her door slowly, peeking down both sides of the hallway, waiting to see if she could hear any movement from down the hall, but when nothing gave her the indication that her family was awake she snuck her way across the hall to the bathroom.

The shower was indeed the shortest Ana had ever taken; cleaning her hair and body in record time before jumping out, drying off, and getting dressed. She exited the bathroom in the same way she had her bedroom, thankfully it seemed that everyone was asleep for the night and that she would be able to leave without having to lie to anyone. Once back in her room she sat down long enough to put on her boots before she was up again and grabbing her bag. Taking one last look around the room, she took in a deep breath, this is what she needed and that's all that mattered in that moment. With that thought in mind she teleported far away from the bunker, states away, landing on a dark road just outside of a brightly lit town in Oregon.

Moving her duffle bag so that it was slung across her body, Ana began to walk toward the lights, hoping that this idea would work. If she had teleported to the place she planned on staying Connor would be able to track her and if she didn't get some sigils on her body fast Gabe and Cas would be able to find her. The plan was to get to the city, hitch a ride toward California, and draw the basic hiding sigils she could remember on her arms. When she had finally settled somewhere she was sure that she wouldn't be looked for at, she would find a more permanent solution to stop the angels from being able to track her, but for now drawing on herself would just have to do.

* * *

Per normal routine Sam was awake before everyone else the next morning. He had already gone for a run, taken a shower, made coffee, and had a bowl of cereal all before Dean even came out of his bedroom. The tenants of the bunker hadn't stayed up long after Gabriel had left, there was a short discussion about trying to come up with a plan to help Ana and then everyone had retreated to their own rooms. By the looks of it Dean had gotten a little more sleep than he had been getting lately and that small bit of information made Sam feel a bit better. "Morning." He greeted as Dean moved around the kitchen to get himself a cup of coffee.

"Morning." The elder Winchester grunted in return, filling up his cup before turning around to look at his brother again. "Have you seen Ana yet?" he questioned, having assumed that once his daughter had woken up and realized what they did that she would be pissed.

Sam shook his head, "No, you're the first one I've seen since I woke up." he shrugged, standing up to put his dirty bowl in the sink. "She's probably just sleeping in. It was hard enough getting her up in the morning before hand, after the last few days she's had I wouldn't be surprised if she's up even later than normal."

Considering his brother's words, Dean nodded in agreement, Sam did have a point. Turning to open the fridge, he opened the leftover box of pizza that sat on the shelf and grabbed a slice from it. No one had really felt like cooking so most of their meals were either delivery or takeout. If Ana felt up to eating today maybe he would offer to actually cook a meal, he'd pretty much do anything at that point to get her to eat. Taking a bite of the cold pizza Dean grinned at the disgusted look on his brother's face, "Just because you're weird and don't like cold pizza doesn't mean that the rest of the world's inhabitance can't enjoy it."

Rolling his eyes, Sam shook his head, "I know it's a little soon, but I think I found a case." he changed the subject, moving toward the table where he had his laptop set up at, "Obviously neither of us is ready to take it, but we should pass it along to someone."

"Do you ever turn off that gigantic brain?" Dean questioned, knowing for a fact that it rarely happened and that when Sam was feeling particularly tense that his need to keep busy only grew.

"Shut up," Sam turned his laptop so that Dean could see the screen, "Basic animal attack cover story, I'm betting it's a werewolf." He was almost one hundred percent certain that it was a werewolf, the lunar cycle was right and the photos that he had hacked out of the local police database looked exactly like a werewolf attack.

Dean nodded, "Call Garth, he's got a line of people he can send to take care of it." he took another bite of his pizza, it would be a while before any of them took up a hunt again. "I'm going to go check on Ana." he added, mouth full of food before he turned to leave the room, ignoring the disgusted sound that had just come out of his brother's mouth. There was no doubt that Ana needed to rest, it had been evident by the dark circles under her eyes that though she'd been in bed since they returned to the bunker that she hadn't actually been sleeping. All he wanted to do was check on her, if she was still asleep he would just leave her to rest and wait for her to wake up on her own.

* * *

Ana had walked all of the way into the city and instead of trying to hitch a ride with someone who wasn't a possible serial killer or sexual offender, she decided to run the rode in true Winchester fashion by hotwiring a car. Part of her felt bad because it was someone else's car and they probably needed it, but at the same time she just needed to get as far away from Oregon as possible. Once her family realized she was gone it wouldn't take long before Connor tried to track the trail her magic had left. As she drove through the night she grew more and more thankful that she had either been healed by Connor or Gabriel, she was betting on the latter since Connor's healing spells weren't that great, and that she had gotten decent sleep on top of it.

By the time the sun broke through the horizon she was a few hours passed the border into California and feeling ready to stop, she needed to get rid of the stolen car anyway. Pulling over on the side of the highway, she looked around the abandoned road before teleporting away and hoping that because it was such an early hour that she would be able to land somewhere no one would see her. There was little chance that Connor would be able to find that exact spot on the stretch of road where she had teleported, which meant that he wouldn't be able to track her, but she also needed to refrain from using her magic after this last jaunt. She couldn't risk Connor or the angels using it to track her.

Landing in an alley, Ana gave a quick glance around before she was assured that no one had been around to see her appear out of nowhere. That was the last time she would be using her magic for a while. There were things she needed to get straight with herself before she was ready to face Connor again, before she could even think about doing anything to stop Michael and Lucifer. What had happened mere days ago had completely shifted her view of herself and her life, this was her solution to figuring it all out. Walking toward the end of the alley, she had little idea where she was, but she knew that she needed to get somewhere with food and an ATM. Her plan to make it through this time was tapping into the savings account she had set aside for a college fund and pull all of it out. By paying for everything in cash or even setting up a different bank account under a false identity her time on the road would last a while longer before her family inevitably found her.

* * *

Pizza in one hand and coffee cup in the other Dean knocked lightly on the door, hoping it wouldn't wake her, but he didn't want to just barge in case she was awake. When he got no response, he opened the door slowly stopping when he could see her bed. Giving himself a moment for his eyes to adjust, he paused when they fell on the empty bed in the room, maybe she was already up and they had just missed each other. It was a large place and with double entrances into the main rooms it was easy to pass someone. With a shrug, he closed the door again, ready to loop back through the library and into the kitchen; he really wanted to see how she was doing after the fight she had with Gabriel last night. Passing the open bathroom door on his trip back down the hall, he knew for sure that Ana wasn't in there, and as he made his way through the empty library he hoped that she was in the kitchen getting her normal breakfast of mass amounts of coffee and toast. When he entered the kitchen again to Sam sitting in the same place he had been when Dean left, he frowned, "Ana hasn't been through here, has she?" He questioned, earning a confused look from his brother.

"No? Was she not in her room?" Sam cocked an eyebrow at Dean, seeing the first signs of panic setting into his brother's eyes and tense shoulders.

"Not in her room or her bathroom or the library." Worry was beginning to set in, if she was up why wouldn't she have stopped to talk to anyone? Or to at least get something to eat, even though Gabe had healed her it had still been three days since she had anything.

Sam sighed, that only covered about a third of the places Ana could be in the bunker. "She's probably with Connor or in the firing range. You know as well as I do that when she has stuff to work through she likes to do it with her pistol and about a hundred rounds of brass."

Forcing himself to calm down, Dean nodded. Sam had a point, shooting was Ana's form of release like working on the Impala was his. Setting his coffee mug down on the table and tossing his pizza in the garbage, he left the room again, now on a mission to find where his daughter was hiding. Taking the route through the library, he double checked to make sure she wasn't there before heading down the hallway toward Connor's room. The closer he got the more the silence around him rang in his ears, if Ana had been practicing her aim he would have been able to hear the sounds of the gun fire from here. Stopping at Connor's door Dean knocked quickly, his foot tapping the floor as he waited for it to be answered.

Connor had been awake for a while, but hadn't bothered to get out of bed yet. When the knock came at the door he was able to tell that it wasn't Ana, "One minute." he called, finally being able to sense that it was Dean. Grabbing a shirt out of his dresser, he quickly pulled it on before opening the door.

"Please tell me that Ana is with you." Dean spoke in a rush, a sinking feeling pulling at his stomach.

"No, I haven't seen her since we left her room last night." Connor offered, brows furrowed as he took in the hunter's anxious expression. "Why?" he asked slowly, beginning to think that something was wrong.

Dean swore, "Because she's not in her room or the kitchen or the library and Sam hasn't seen her this morning either." he turned around sharply and began to jog down the hallway, the feeling in his stomach only growing worse as he stopped to throw open the door to the shooting range and finding it empty. Moving across the hall, he looked inside the reloading room and when she wasn't there either made his way toward the garage, praying to anyone listening that she was there. Barging into the garage he frantically looked around, hoping for a sign of Ana's red hair hiding behind any of the cars there. It sunk in once he saw no sign of her and that all of the cars, including her own, were where they were supposed to be.

"See her?" Connor questioned, not being able to sense her, but she could have easily blocked herself from him. Maybe she just needed a little space after the argument last night.

Dean shook his head, just no realizing that Connor had been trailing behind him the entire way. "She's gone."

 **A/N: So Ana ran away from home. Kind of reminds me of Sam leaving for Stanford, they both went to California. What are you guys thinking of the last couple of chapters? I promise it's not going to be all gloom and doom, there's a silver lining hiding not far in the future for these characters, but it** _ **is**_ **the Winchesters so things can never go smoothly. Anywho, I'd love to know what you think. Thanks for reading :)**


	60. Chapter 60

**A/N: Holy views and comments, Batman!**

The moment the words were out of Dean's mouth he knew they were true. Ana had left. She was gone and after Connor went into her room he had been able to sense that she had teleported out. Dean had gone into full search and rescue mode after that. After getting Charlie and Kellen out of bed, filling everyone in on what he knew, and then getting everyone to come to the general consensus that Ana wasn't thinking clearly he decided they wouldn't stop searching until they got her back. First he had sent Connor to follow the trail her magic left when she teleported, but he had come back shortly after saying that he landed outside of a town in Oregon and couldn't sense her anywhere near. His next idea was to have Cas and Gabe track her down, knowing that neither angel depended on the traces of her magic to be able to find her. Gabriel had been less than pleased to hear the news and hadn't taken any prompting before he began to search for her. Cas had left shortly after giving the group a few awkward words of encouragement, the fact that he now had a better understanding of human emotion and how to react in some situations made Dean smile, if only for a second.

No part of him could understand why Ana would just up and leave the way she did. There was no note, they had tried calling numerous times but the service to her phone had been disconnected, and she seemed to be purposefully leaving little to follow her on. She'd even gone so far to disable her phone's GPS. He shouldn't have been surprised that she knew to do these things, he and Sam had both taught her how to track a person if she needed to, but he never thought that knowledge would be used like this.

* * *

The first thing Ana had done when she found an open diner was go into the bathroom, dig through her make up bag for the liquid eyeliner she never wore, and used it to draw sigils on her arms. It hadn't taken long, something about having Gabriel's grace inside of her for so long gave her an excellent understanding of Enochian and she was able to remember the correct sigils without any trouble. With that finished she pulled out her phone and called the company that her phone was through to disconnect her service. The process took longer than she would have liked, having to answer a handful of questions about why she was cancelling and them trying to convince her to stay with their company. She finally had to pull out what she referred to as her 'scary Dean voice' and basically told them to shove it while making sure that they would cancel her service once their call was over. After hanging up she popped the back cover on her phone, pulled the chip out that made her phone traceable, and drowned it in the bathroom sink. Feeling as if she had sufficiently cloaked herself Ana gave her sigils one last check to make sure they were dry and then changed out of the short sleeve shirt she was wearing into something with long sleeves to cover the marks. She really didn't need people asking questions about what they were.

Giving herself a once over in the mirror, she frowned at her reflection. She didn't look like herself, but at least she didn't look as ragged and homeless as she had before her shower. Taking a moment to collect herself, she adjusted the strap of her duffle bag before leaving the restroom and making her way back into the diner to find a place to sit. The pit that had been in her stomach for the last four days was still there, filling her with a dread that she was able to ignore as long as she kept herself focused on moving forward, but because of it she didn't feel hungry at all. She'd have to force herself to eat something, with no archangel around to heal her when she passed out again she couldn't risk the dangers of such a thing.

"Morning, honey, what can I get ya?" A happy voice asked next to her, which caused Ana to realize she hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings as she should have been. She was going to have to do better than that if she planned to make it on her own.

Glancing up at the waitress, she gave the older woman a small, yet extremely fake smile. "Can I just get a cup of coffee with some fruit and toast?"

Not even bothering to write the order down on her pad, the waitress gave her a smile, "Of course. I'll have that coffee right up. You gonna need any cream or sugar?"

"Both, please." With a quick nod, Ana watched as the woman walked back toward the kitchen. Moving her eyes around the room she noticed that she was one of two customers there, a glance at the clock telling her that it was still pretty early in the morning, just coming up on eight. She wondered if anyone had noticed her absence yet. Remembering that time zones were indeed a thing, she took a moment to calculate the difference; it was only six at the bunker, which meant that Sam was most likely the only one awake. It would still be a couple of hours at minimum before someone went in to check on her only to find the room empty. Her heart ached at the thought of her dad or Connor being the ones to figure out she had left, but at the same time she wasn't entirely sure either of them wanted to see her. What she had done was unacceptable, even more so being a Winchester, something about having that name meant you had to do everything you could to protect your family. In that she had failed. Her thoughts moved back to where she was at as the waitress walked back toward her.

With a mug in one hand and a pot of coffee in the other, she sat the cup down and began to fill it, brown eyes glancing at the young girl who sat in the both with a large bag next to her. This wasn't an unusual sight for her, but something about the energy of the girl told her this wasn't the normal run away. "Oh, I forgot your sugar and cream. I'll be right back with that and your food." she shot the girl a kind smile before moving back to the kitchen.

Ignoring the glances that the woman shot her, Ana grabbed the mug between her hands, absorbing as much of the heat as she could. The woman came back quickly, setting the rest of her order down on the table before saying that she'd be back to check on Ana in a bit. Mindlessly picking at the fruit in the bowl, she popped a blueberry into her mouth and began to contemplate what her next move should be. She needed to get to an ATM to pull all of the cash out of her account, but once she did that she could no longer stay in the town since the transaction could be traced and it wouldn't take long before Sam and Dean got into all of her accounts, she knew that if they were going to look for her that they would use all of their tricks. That was if they even wanted to look for her, either way she wouldn't take the risk.

Finishing her small breakfast didn't take long and she paid with the small amount of cash on her, giving the waitress a tip and asking for the nearest ATM. A solid plan had formed in her head as she ate; pull all of her money out, catch the next bus out of town, and be far from it before her dad even had the chance to wake up and notice her absence.

* * *

"Okay, I was finally able to access Ana's bank account and it looks like she pulled all of the money she had in her savings account out in Ridgecrest, California." Sam told his brother, eyes still focused on the screen of his laptop. "Other than that there's no activity on it."

"She's going completely off grid." Dean observed, sighing as he sunk down into the open chair he had been up and down in multiple times in the past hour. Neither Gabe or Cas had come back yet and he was beginning to notice that his daughter was making it extremely hard to find her. "Why would she even leave like this? I don't get it."

Kellen cleared his throat as he entered the room, he had spent the past hour making phone calls to everyone he could think of back home that Ana might turn to, but no one had heard from her and he had successfully put his family and Heather into a tizzy of worry. "Knowing Ana she's probably got herself worked up over everything. If I had to guess I would say she's probably worried that she's disappointed everyone because of what happened, blaming herself as she normally does, but I'm starting to see that she gets that from you." he gestured toward Dean as he moved toward the table to take a seat. "This isn't the first time she's gone off to get some space. When we were kids she ran off for two days and hid in an old abandoned shack near where we grew up, all over a fight she had gotten into with Heather over some thing or another. She finally came home, won't be long before she comes back here."

Dean scrunched his face up in disbelief, "Yeah, she came back then, when she was a child. She's fully grown now, she knows how to take care of herself, though if the past few days have anything to show for that department maybe she doesn't. Either way I don't seem this as being some fit, if it were she wouldn't go through all of the trouble of keeping herself hidden."

"Hidden is fucking right." Gabriel spoke up as he appeared in the library, "I've searched the entire planet for that stubborn woman and there's zero sign of her."

Cas appeared next to him with a grim expression, "It's wise to assume that she's cloaked herself from us with sigils, similar to those I branded on your ribs. She doesn't want to be found."

"And she because of that, she won't be found." Connor spoke softly as he entered the room, he'd been trying any spell he could think of to track her and when none of those came to fruition he'd made a call to Niall. Maybe with the added power of more witches they would be able to find her. "She's smart and with the hunters training, her magic, and just general knowledge she could keep herself hidden from us for God knows how long."

Sam's head shot up at Connor's words, "Speaking of God, what about Chuck? He is kind of the creator of all of this, if anyone can find Ana it would be him."

Gabriel rolled his eyes as he began to pace the room, "Which is what exactly should be happening, but he's gone off the radar again. After he flashed out of here before Dean could beat him to a pulp neither of us has been able to sense him."

"Fucking useless piece of shit." Dean grumbled, not even worried that he might be invoking God's famous wrath with his words. "He just jumps in when he needs something done, but when we need something from him he's nowhere to be found." Standing up from his seat again, he looked around at the worried faces that filled the room. "Well what the hell are we supposed to do now? We can't just let her go off like this. There are still demons and angels out for her freaking head and on top of the fact that Gadreel is more than likely still working to open the cage to set Lucifer and Michael free she's basically asking for something to happen to her."

Silence filled the room as everyone thought about what they could do, having already tried their conventional means of trying to track people and coming up with nothing. "We wait." Charlie spoke up, she'd been sitting at the table with Sam and Dean the entire time, keeping her mouth shut as she tried to think of other things they could do, but they had covered all of their bases and this was the only option left. "She's hidden herself from angels, which means that Gadreel won't be able to find her and if she's smart, which we all know she is, she'll keep herself away from demons. Take it from someone who has been on the run before, either she'll slip up and we'll be able to find her, or she'll come back."

"And how long are we supposed to wait for one of those things to happen?" Connor asked, knowing that he wasn't the only one thinking it in the room. Charlie's idea was insane, they couldn't just wait around for her to come back or for the possibility that she might slip up and use magic or screw up her warding against Gabe and Cas.

"As long as it takes." Charlie answered, her expression giving away that she wasn't any happier about her suggestion than the rest of them were, but right then that seemed to be the only option they had left.

* * *

The first bus out of Ridgecrest was set to make many stops along the way, but Ana decided that she would take it as far as Bountiful, Utah before getting off. Something about the city on the bus' route sticking out to her and since she had no reason _not_ to, that was where she would get off. It was going to be a fourteen hour drive with only one transfer stop, but she cared little about that fact. She was able to board shortly after buying her ticket and they were on the road ten minutes later; putting distance between herself and the small California city.

Thankfully the number of passengers on the bus was slim, just enough to fill at least one spot on each row, meaning that everyone pretty much kept to themselves. She made sure to keep her duffle bag with her instead of putting it in the storage space under the bus, with her pistol tucked safely in between clothes she wouldn't chance being without it; there was no telling when she would need it. Even though she had slept for hours after her fight with Gabriel, she still felt tired, her body still taxed by all that she had put it through. Opening her bag that took up the seat next to the one she sat in, she dug around in it until she pulled out her favorite purple hoodie and after closing her bag back up, she bunched up the fabric in her hands and used it as a cushion between her head and the window. Closing her eyes, Ana thought it would take a while before she was able to relax enough to fall asleep, but it had been only a few minutes before she was drifting off.

* * *

It had only been a few hours of waiting before Dean swore he was going to explode with anger and worry. "That's it, I can't just sit here." He grabbed his phone, which had been sitting on the library table since he'd given up on trying Ana's number over and over again. Quickly finding the contact he wanted, he sent the call through and placed the device to his ear, ignoring the confused look of his brother who sat across from him. "Garth, hey man. We have a situation." he paused, listening to the other man's voice, eyes flicking up to meet Sam's before he continued, "Ana's missing. We've tried everything we can think of to track her, but we're coming up with nothing. I know you have a pretty wide web of connections in the hunter community and I was hoping you'd get word out. Have everyone keep their eyes open for her." Another pause and he watched a look of understanding cross his brother's features. "That'd be great. I'll let you know if anything changes on our end. Thanks, Garth."

Sam watched as Dean ended the call, "Do you think that was necessary?" If Kellen was right, Ana would probably return to them before she even had the chance to run into another hunter.

"She's not going to come back unless something happens or she's found." Dean spoke matter-of-factly, "All we have to run off is the fact that Connor is still able to tell she's alive and not in any immediate danger through their bond, but she's even closed him down enough so that he can't track her that way. If we're not able to find her, maybe someone else will catch sight of her and we'll at least have an idea of where she's at." Giving a small shake of his head, he hid his face in his hand, taking a moment to regain his composure because he was slowly losing it. "I've just got to do something. I can't just sit around and wait."

Reaching across the table, Sam gave his brother's shoulder a reassuring pat, "We won't just stop looking. Gabe and Cas are going to keep checking to see if they can find her, Connor is with the Council now seeing if they can track her with a spell, and we've got warnings set up on her cell phone and bank account should she use either. We'll bring her home, Dean."

* * *

"How?" Connor questioned, looking at Caoimhe as if she were speaking another language. "It's a blood spell, there's little that can stop that from being tracked. This should have been our shot at finding her location!"

Elliot moved closer to Connor and placed a calming hand on his shoulder. The younger witch had shown up after the search for Ana on their end hadn't given any results, hoping that Caoimhe would have been able to find the woman with a blood tracking spell. He knew that Connor would have prefered Iona or Fenrick be there with him, there was no secret that he was closer with those two than many of the other witches there, but the Calhoun family was still grieving the loss of Gavin and none of the remaining family had left their home since the funeral. "There are ways to throw off even a blood spell. Ana knows her craft well, she could easily block such a spell or even give it misleading results."

"Perhaps this is something you need to let her do." Caoimhe offered, having faith that Ana wouldn't do something to put herself in danger. "So much has happened to her in the past two year; she went from being a normal person to being a Winchester and a witch, both of those things completely out of her realm. Adding the loss of your child along with the prophecy you both face and the possible release of Michael and Lucifer, she could just need some time to process everything." Standing from her chair behind the long table, the elder witch walked until she was standing in front of Connor. Reaching for both of his hands, she held them in her own and looked into his eyes, "Be happy with the fact that you at least know she's alive, you're bond is giving you enough information that you will be able to know when the time will be to worry about her wellbeing."

Using every ounce of control left in his body, Connor only gave a stiff nod instead of yelling out in rage. What good was being a witch if nothing about it could protect his child or track down his soulmate. Retracting his hands from Caoimhe's grip Connor teleported out of the room. He was going to lose his mind before they would find Ana, there was no doubt about that. Appearing on the cliffside that she would so often come to, he looked out at the restless ocean and tired to understand even a little of what made Ana leave. Those thoughts quickly drove him back to his anger. _How could she leave me after everything that just happened?_ The question was basically on repeat in his head, the loss of their baby wasn't just Ana's; he felt it like a blade stuck in his chest, Dean was plagued with regrets of letting Ana go to the battle in the first place and not assuring that someone was at her side the entire time, even Sam, Charlie, and Kellen all felt the loss. The baby had been all of their family and none of them had been prepared for the possibility that something like this would happen, that it was even possible. But Ana hadn't been thinking of any of them when she decided to leave, that much was clear.

* * *

Shortly after Sam's pep talk, Dean had stormed out of the library and headed off in the direction of the garage. There was no doubt in the younger Winchester's mind that his brother was off to work on the Impala, even though the car probably didn't need it. Dean was having a hard time trying to keep his emotions straight and under control while underneath the tense, calm facade the man was raging with panic, anger, and worry on the inside. Sam was able to tell all of that just by looking in his brother's eyes, little had ever affected Dean this much and it was hard for Sam to see him in such a way.

Though his worry for his brother was at the forefront of his thoughts, Sam was still trying to process everything himself. It had only been four days since the fight with the rogues and in that time they had to process the loss of the baby, his great niece, but now they were being struck with a whole different set of pain and fear. He and Ana weren't the closest out of the people in the bunker, he knew that and understood why their bond had never really grown much further than the familial bond of love, but he thought that they'd had the type of relationship where she knew she could talk to him should she need to. She had come to him about Chuck sending her soul to Hell, even if she hadn't told him exactly what was going on, he just assumed that she would return to him in a situation like that again. Apparently he'd been wrong, maybe she didn't trust him as much as he thought she had. He just wished that she'd gone to someone instead of leaving the way she had, this was the last thing they needed with everything else going on and part of him couldn't understand how idiotic she had been with her decision. Gadreel, the demons and angels working with him, the rise of Lucifer and Michael; there were too many dangers in the world geared toward Ana that he thought she'd have enough sense to not leave one of the two places she was completely protected from all of it.

With a sigh he pushed the book that was laying on the table in front of him away, he hadn't been paying attention to it for a while now and there was no reason to pretend as if he was. Sam had hoped that he could find something on the spell that had been used on Ana, just so they would know what exactly happened to the baby, then maybe they could all properly grieve. Iona hadn't been able to tell anything other than the fact that the baby was gone and none of the other witches could give them answers as to what actually happened to the child. There was something they were missing, of that Sam was positive, but he could find nothing in any book they had to suggest that his gut feeling was right.

He was about to stand up from the table when his phone began to ring in his pocket. Acting quickly he pulled it out of his jeans, hoping that it would be Ana on the other end of the line, but when the screen informed him that it was Valera his hopes fell. Calming himself down, he answered the call, "Hey, Val."

"Connor just left in a fit of anger, everything that's happening is becoming too much for him." Her voice filtered through the speaker, her tone filled with worry. "How are you doing? This has to be really hard on all of you."

"Dean, Connor, and Gabe are taking it the worst, which isn't all that surprising. Charlie and Kellen are positive that she'll come back when she's ready and that until then we just have to wait." He answered, leaning back in his chair and tilting his head back, hopefully Ana's returned would happen sooner rather than later.

There was short, humorless laugh from Valera as she considered his words. "I didn't call you to check on everyone else, though I do care about their wellbeing. I called to ask how _you_ were doing, Sam Winchester. So out with it, how are you holding up?"

He paused a moment to think on the question, how _was_ he holding up with everything that was going on? That was something he hadn't stopped long enough to think about until now and he came to find that he was more than just worried for his niece, "I'm mad," He answered, the emotion filling him more now that he was focusing on it. "And hurt. Out of all of the people here I probably understand the need to get away from family so that you can process things more than anyone and she didn't turn to me. I wouldn't have stopped her, not that I could have, but I just wish she would have trusted me enough to tell me where she was going."

"Oh, Sam," Val paused, thinking of the man on the other end of the call, "if I know anything about being a young woman in a tough situation, which I do know some about, it's that when making a decision like this you tell no one. I'm not going to even try to pretend I know Ana well enough to try and explain why she's done this, but I can assure you that she didn't keep it from you because she doesn't trust you. Ana loves you Sam and values your opinion more than you probably think, whatever caused her to leave the way she did also caused her to talk to no one about it. Not just you, but everyone."

Taking a moment to let her words sink in, Sam wondered if the woman on the other line was able to read his mind, she had just assured him that all of his worries were over nothing. Well most of them, his worry for Ana was entirely valid, "Thanks, Val, I needed to hear that."

"Of course, someone has to have enough sense to talk you down from whatever ledge you get yourself worked up to in your head." The smile on her lips could be heard in her words, "I know that you're probably going to be busy with trying to find Ana and dealing with all of the angel and demon stuff, but if you need anyone to talk to while you're trying to stay strong for everyone else, you can give me call. And don't even pretend that you're not putting up a facade that says you're mostly fine while trying to comfort everyone else, I watched you do enough of that in the one day we were here after the fight that I have no doubt it's what you're doing now."

Sam grimaced, "Is it really that obvious?" He hoped that none of those in the bunker were able to see through him like Valera apparently was able to. Dean probably could if he tried, but his brother had other things on his mind right now.

"No, but I like to study people and while there was chaos surrounding everyone in your family there you were, like a pillar in a storm, ready with compassionate words and comforting hug to keep everyone else going." There was a pause and Sam deducted that Val was trying to chose her next words very carefully. "You can't be the strong one all the time, Sam, and when the time comes that you need to just be not okay, you better give me call. You're not alone in any of this."

Her words brought a small smile to his lips, "I'll remember that. Thanks, Valera."

"Anytime, Winchester. Now get back to whatever book I'm sure you were reading, I've interrupted long enough." With those words, Val ended the call, hoping that she had indeed helped Sam. No one person deserved to try and be strong for so many people without having someone to worry over them as well.

Pulling his phone away from his ear, Sam placed it on the table, wondering how the witch he had just spoken to seemed to know so much about him. Maybe he _was_ that easy to read when he wasn't purposefully blocking himself off from other people or maybe he and Val had just spent so much time together that she had picked up on all of that, she was really intelligent and they had spent a lot of time together researching. Either way it didn't really matter to him, he was just glad that she had called.

 **A/N: Another chapter down ladies and gents. What are you all thinking of what's going on? Ana is out on the run, will she be alright? How long will she keep herself hidden from everyone else? Dean and Connor are obviously both wrecks, but do you think that Charlie's idea of letting Ana do what she needs to was a little cold? Or maybe she just has more faith in Ana than the others do at the moment. Also, what's going on with Sam and Valera? Is it a one sided crush? Maybe a crush on both ends? Or is Val just trying to be a good friend?**

 **So many questions and most of them will be answered eventually! Seriously, I'd really love to hear what you all are thinking about this. I love getting feedback from all of you!**

 **Happygoddess2003: Yes! All of the angst, it's going to get a little more angsty before it starts to get better. Also, I really loved your feedback on Sam! It never really occurred to me how little faith I've put in Sam with this story. I feel he is a very capable character and now that I've got it in my head, be prepared for Sam stepping up here in the next few chapters. Thank you so much for the review! I love hearing from you :)**

 **JediCat1965: I agree that running away is not the right answer for Ana right now, but some great things are going to come out of it. Also, I felt like it was time for her to make some mistakes, she's been having a pretty good run with decision making. Had to change it up ;) Thank you so much for the review!**

 **catetay: Holy crap that's a lot of reading! I tried** _ **really**_ **hard to make both Ana and Connor characters with depth. Back stories that caused their strength and weaknesses, family outside of what I've given them with the Winchesters, and all of these little things that make them just who they are. I'm really glad that you're enjoying them :) Gabriel's stored grace plot actually happened on a whim, I wanted something more than he just tricked his brother, because come on, Lucifer would have seen through it. That's what I think at least. Thank you so much for the lovely review, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as you've enjoyed the rest. :)**

 **I hope you ALL enjoyed this chapter :) Until next time my lovely readers.**


	61. Chapter 61

Arriving in the city of Bountiful, Utah, Ana began to notice that the strange sensation she had felt when reading the city's name at the bus station in Ridgecrest hadn't gone away, but had only grown stronger. Maybe she was meant to be here, maybe she was just slowly losing her mind while trying to simultaneously deal with extreme grief and the anxiety of being out on her own in a world filled with monsters. Which wasn't actually that big of a deal, the monsters that her family hunted didn't really scare Ana, but now that she had sworn of using almost all of her magic, fighting off anything was going to be a lot more difficult than she was used to. It was late in the night when she left the bus station and began to walk toward the nearest motel, she needed to figure out what she was going to do now, since moving from city to city didn't seem that appealing, but neither did settling down in some random place and assuming a fake life. She needed a good plan.

Looking up into the night sky she noticed that the moon was waning, at least she wouldn't have to worry about werewolves for a while and that simple thought made her walk through the dark streets feel a little less daunting. It didn't take long to reach a motel, the bus station in the city was pretty centralized and it made the walk quick. After getting a room and making her way to it, she dropped her duffle to the ground before falling back on the bed. This place wasn't nearly as bad as most of the motels that her dad and uncle were used to frequenting, but she also didn't want to stay there long. Though she had slept most of the bus ride, part of her was still exhausted and all she was ready to actually do at that point was shower and get into bed. Her planning could wait until morning.

* * *

The morning after the day Dean had discovered that Ana left, Sam noticed a large shift in the people he lived with. It was most noticeable in Dean and Connor, both men seeming completely lost between their worry for Ana and the pain they were all still trying to push through. Maybe it made him a little heartless that it wasn't as hard for him to push away the thought of the lost baby to focus on keeping an eye out for signs of Ana or what was going to happen next with the rise of Michael and Lucifer. Walking into the library, he hadn't been expecting to see anyone awake, no one was ever awake before he was, which was how he knew that neither Connor or Dean had gone to their rooms the night before. "What are you two doing?" he questioned, taking in Dean's red eyes as they stared at the screen of Sam's laptop. Connor sat in the chair across from him with a book Sam was pretty sure contained old spells.

"What the hell does it look like?" Dean grumbled, rubbing a hand over his tired eyes. His worry for his daughter had become all consuming and all he could think about was getting her back before Gadreel or one of his followers got his hands on her.

Sam drew in a long, deep breath before forcing it out quickly, this was all going to becoming annoying really fast. "It looks like you're not taking Charlie's advice. Guys, Ana is more than capable of taking care of herself, if she gets into trouble I have no doubt that she will reach out to us if she can't handle it on her own." Noticing that his words were doing little to deter the men at the table, Sam stormed over to the them, slamming his laptop closed and pulling Connor's book away in one swift movement. "It's only been a day and you two are acting like Ana's died! She's a grown woman, she made the decision to take some time, get some space, and figure out her crap. Maybe you two should do the same!" He snapped, wondering if either of them saw how capable Ana was of taking care of herself. "We have bigger things to deal with right now. Ana will be fine, we know she's alive and unharmed because of her connection with Connor. What we don't know is what Gadreel's next plan is with raising Michael and Lucifer. We don't know what we can do once they are risen, because at this point it's a matter of _when_ and not _if._ And we don't know what actually happened to your daughter, Connor!"

"Don't talk about her." Connor basically growled the words, the last thing he wanted to think about in the moment was how he wasn't able to protect his daughter and now he won't be able to protect his soulmate.

"Why? Because it hurts? It should hurt! Three witches did something to your child and instead of trying to figure out what exactly they did, you're too worried about a fully capable witch out on her own than trying to find a reason for her to come home!" Sam was beyond done with the moping, there was too much on their plate for them to stop and cry every time something went wrong. This was a time when they all needed to step up and be as strong as they could every moment until it was all over.

Dean shoved himself out of his chair, body filling with rage at his brother's words. "She's dead, Sam! That's what happened to the baby. She's dead! That's why Ana left and that's why neither of us can think about anything but bringing her home!"

"If all they wanted was for the baby to be dead, do you think they would have removed all evidence of the pregnancy in the first place? It makes no sense." Sam spoke, forcing himself to calm down, yelling was not going to help anything. "If Ana and Connor were meant to have this baby, which we know they were because there's a prophecy about it, then there's no way it could just end like this. So much was put into place so that you and I would be born, to be Lucifer and Michael's vessels, to start the apocalypse. Do you think that the same kind of work wouldn't be put into this?"

Connor stood up from his chair suddenly, looking at the brothers with a stoic expression, this was all becoming too much to handle. First his daughter, then his soulmate and now Sam was spurting crazy ideas that he wasn't sure were possible. "I can't do this." he spoke the words softly, but by the looks of shock on both of the men's faces he knew that they'd heard him. Without giving it another thought Connor teleported out of the room.

"That's on you." Dean pointed an accusing finger at his brother. "I know you're the raging optimist out of the two of us, but what you just suggested is pushing it, Sam. He just lost his daughter, the last thing you should be trying to do is getting his hopes up when you don't even know if what you're saying is possible!"

Sam scoffed, "Think about it, Dean. Why would Chuck purposefully make sure that Ana got pregnant and then just let the baby be taken the way it was? It doesn't make sense!"

"When has any of this ever made sense? Like anything we've ever come across in our lives has a logical explanation for it." Dean let out a heavy sigh, "Our entire lives, from the moment mom died, nothing has ever been normal or by the book. Why would it all of the sudden start with my daughter?"

"Look, I know you've never really had faith in God, but now that we personally know him, I have to believe that there's more to this than we think." Sam looked at his brother with a steady expression, standing his ground on his assumptions. "We've both been dead and brought back so many times, all by his hand, obviously there's something about us that he cares for. Ana had to have something special about her to hold Gabriel's grace, which I also think Chuck had a hand in, so I don't think he's abandoned us. We've never received any hand out by him and I don't think this time is any different. There's something we're missing, but we have to figure it out ourselves."

Dean's face twisted in disbelief of the words coming out of his brother's mouth. "So tell me, oh wise one, if the baby isn't dead, where is she?"

Sam's eyes dropped, "I honestly don't know. Magic is something I still have little understanding of. Maybe they were able to, I don't know, speed up the aging process? Put her in some sort of incubator? This is so far out of our league." He shook his head and sat down in the nearest chair, "I have to believe that the world isn't cruel enough to take this happiness away from a Ana, from us."

* * *

The instant Garth had gotten the call from Dean he'd gone to work calling every hunter he knew. Even with his status as a werewolf, which very few of the hunters he was in contact with knew about, he had pretty much became this generation's Bobby. Now, he would never claim to be as good as the older man had been with running everything, but he did the best he could. With this task he pushed himself further. Sam and Dean were family, which made Ana family, and he was not okay with the girl being completely MIA. He'd gotten through to almost all of the hunters he was in contact with, having left messages for the others call him back.

It had been a day since Dean's call and Garth wished there was more he could do, but he'd do just as Dean asked and get the word out. A full description to every hunter he called and a quick warning that she wasn't as small or weak as she seemed. Not that he thought Ana would attack any of them, but the last thing he wanted was for some poor schmuck to get in her way if she were in danger. The girl could handle herself. His phone ringing brought him out of his thoughts and he glanced at the caller ID. "Logan." Garth answered the call, glad that the young hunter had called him back.

"Your message said it was important. What's going on?" The voice on the other end of the line spoke.

"You heard of Ana Winchester, right?" Garth knew that even though they didn't want it to, word had gotten out pretty fast now that there was a third Winchester.

There was a pause from the other man, "Uh, yeah. One of the brothers' daughter, right?"

Garth nodded slowly, "Dean's. She's gone off grid, we're getting word out and hoping that someone spots her."

Logan scoffed and it made Garth frown, "This isn't the first time a hunter has gone off grid, Garth. Why is this one so important?"

"She's got some pretty big things ahead of her and if she's not around to stop them the world is pretty much going to become Hell." Garth explained, growing impatient.

"Great." Logan grumbled, "What's up with these damn Winchesters? Always one big thing or another. Fine, I'll keep an eye out. What's she look like?"

Garth smiled, happy to have another set of eyes out looking for Ana. "Long red hair, bright green eyes, and she has an attitude just like her father. She's pretty short too, but don't let that fool you, she's trained with the best of them and can kick some serious ass."

"Red head with a smart mouth and a temper. Got it." Logan thought for a moment that she sounded like his kind of woman, but from what'd he'd heard of the Winchesters the last thing he wanted to do was get caught up in their crazy. "I'll call you if I hear or see anything. Got any cases that need to be taken care of? Just wrapped up a shifter case and haven't found any new leads."

Garth turned his chair so that he could look at the map he had placed up on the wall next to his desk, he had tacks placed all over it, black showing where suspicious activity had been noticed and blue to show that he'd already sent a hunter to deal with it. Giving a quick sweep of it, he tapped a pin that he'd placed just to the west of the Texas/New Mexico border. "Carlsbad, New Mexico. There's some weird stuff going down and though I'm not entirely sure it's our kind of thing, it's worth looking into."

Logan grunted in agreement, "I'll make my way there, see what I can figure out. If I see the Winchester girl, I'll give you a call."

As the line went dead, Garth grabbed a blue tack and placed it next to the black one he'd just been touching. Logan was a smart hunter, even if he was younger than most of the ones Garth dealt with, he would figure out what was going on there. Now if only they could find a location on Ana.

* * *

Three days had passed since Ana had arrived in Utah and though she'd never considered it before hand, the state wasn't half bad. Other than passing through she'd never stopped for any reason, but now that she was here she decided that it could stay in her list of not terrible places to be. She sat on a hill overlooking the city as these thoughts ran through her head, her mind trying to focus on anything other than the things she had run from. It turns out that when you spend almost two years straight hunting or being hunted by something that you pretty much completely forget how to function any other way. It had been so long since she had an abundance of free time on her hands that she had zero idea what to do with herself. So she had explored, checked out the city and surrounding area, purposefully wearing herself out by walking everywhere so that by the time she returned to her hotel room there was little to do but fall into bed.

One of the things that Ana had always thought to be true was that when everything was bad, when the world seemed to turn against you, that you could always right things by clearing your head with some fresh air and a nice view of the Rocky Mountains. Though she knew part of the mountain range came through Utah, Ana wasn't necessarily sure that the mountains she was looking at were part of the Rockies. Either way, they were beautiful and they did exactly what the mountains back home had always done, brought her back down to Earth. Grounding her body and mind with the here and now, which was something she was far from ready for. She had just lost her child, the little thing barely two months through it's development inside of her, and though they had succeeded in stripping the rogues who stood against them of their power it would never be enough to balance out her loss.

It was there, surrounded by nature that the young witch let the floodgates open. There was no longer any blame being tossed around inside of her head, no inner voice screaming at her for not being strong enough to protect her child, and no sense of dread that the family surrounding her was blaming her for what happened. No, with only the wind and the mountains to hear her Ana wailed purely for the loss of the life she had created and had lost too soon.

* * *

It had been a whole week. Dean had been counting down the days, praying that Ana would come walking through the front door any moment. Nothing ever happened though. Sam continued to search for an answer about the spell that the rogue witches had used on Ana. Charlie had designated herself in charge of tracking demon omens or signs of Gadreel. Kellen had taken Ana's car and started driving back to Montana the day before, thinking that it would be a good idea for him to go keep everyone there calm while keeping an eye open as well. Connor barely left his room, sometimes only coming out long enough to grab more spell supplies. Dean had no doubt that the witch was trying every spell and ritual he could think of to either force Ana to return or just to even get a way to track her.

In the time that passed Dean had done little but watch those around him or keep his stare locked on his phone and the screen of his laptop which were set up to wait for a sign that Ana had used something they could trace her with. It had already been too long, part of him was convinced that she was hurt or dead, but the other knew better than that. He had trained her well, Connor had trained her well, and she was smart. Plus he hoped that if anything _had_ happened to her that she would have the sense to call Cas or Gabe for help. Then there was her connection with Connor, if she was in sort of duress the other witch would know.

As if on cue, Connor came running into the room with tears in his eyes, "She's finally lost it." the words were rushed out of his mouth.

"What?" Dean stood up from his chair and crossed the room so that he was standing in front of Connor.

"Ana." The witch answered, as if the others didn't already know who he was talking about. "Everything that she's been holding in since what happened with the rogues, something happened and now it's all coming out. She's literally lost in her grief, I can feel it."

Sam stood up from the table as well and moved to stand with Connor and Dean, "Maybe that's a good thing?" he offered, as Dean had pointed out earlier, he was ever the optimist. "Maybe she just needed some time to let all of this out and now that she's finally letting herself feel the extent of her grief she'll be ready to come home soon."

Connor tried to keep himself composed, but the wave of emotion he was getting from Ana made it really hard. Covering his mouth a moment, he took a breath before trying to speak again, "I honestly don't know, but she shouldn't be going through this alone."

Dean and Sam shared a look, neither man knowing what they could do with this information other than hope that it would help Ana clear her head enough to realize that she needed to come home, to be surrounded by people who loved her.

"I-I knew you'd want to know. I'm going t-to go back to my r-room." Connor shook with the force of everything he was feeling. Not only were Ana's emotions rolling through him like a hurricane, but because of it his own emotions were brought to the forefront of his mind. It was too much to handle. Turning around he left the library, knowing he wouldn't be able to keep it together much longer and he really didn't want to lose it in front of the brothers.

* * *

"You know, some really crappy things have happened to those boys and you just keep letting them get worse." A gruff voice growled in anger as the man who bared it pushed himself up from the old recliner he had been sitting in.

Chuck sighed, not even bothering to turn to look at the man who was now standing next to him, glaring as if his eyes alone could cause God to burst into flames. "Struggle makes people stronger and they're going to need all of the strength they can to deal with my two oldest."

"You damn bastard!" The old man moved himself into Chuck's line of sight, "You come waltzing into my Heaven, do something to my damn TV so I'm getting a play by play of _my_ boys' life and all it has to show is that you're letting them get royally screwed over! That poor girl lost her mother before she even opened her eyes for the first time, got tortured as a child, grew up without a father, and then got thrown into a world full of things other people would piss themselves over. And what do you let happen the moment she finds some semblance of happiness? Of joy? You let those damn witches take away her baby!"

"Bobby, calm down." Chuck fixed him with a blank expression, "Dean's been to Hell and back. So did Sam and Ana has now too, though not in the sense the other two did. Do you really think I would let that child, the one who has the potential to protect the world from an even greater evil, be murdered by a bunch of misguided, power hungry witches?"

The old hunter blanched, "Well if she's not dead, where in the hell is she?"

"She's alive and growing. At this point that's all that matters." Chuck assured Bobby before disappearing from the living room of Bobby's house, or the replica of it.

"Damn meddling dick." Bobby grumbled to himself as he moved back to the chair he'd been sitting in. The old TV in front of him still playing a live feed of Sam and Dean, plus the other boy who he had figured out was basically Dean's son-in-law. Things were rough for his boys down on Earth and he hoped that Chuck would pull his head out of his ass long enough to fix it or at least deal with his sons on his own.

* * *

Laying in bed staring at the ceiling of her hotel room Ana now knew what her next move was going to be. It had been a week since her break down in the wilderness just outside of the city and things had been a little better. She didn't feel as on edge, she was still filled with pain, but it was manageable. The entire week the bond she shared with Connor was being filled with love and worry, he was basically pushing it at her, like a call to run into his protective arms so that they could begin to heal together. That wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

Her night had been pretty peaceful, considering that after her meltdown all she had was nightmares of being attacked by the rogue witches, but that peacefulness had been shattered by a vision. One showing her what needed to be done, what she needed to start. Grabbing her phone, she glanced at the calendar on it. One week since the break down, a week and a half in Utah, two weeks away from her family. There was no denying fate at this point in her life, but part of her still liked to think that the majority of the things in her life were up to her to decide, to figure out. This, though, all of it; the running away, going to that specific city in Utah, and beginning the long path that would lead her to healing, none of it seemed like chance. All of these things needed to happen, just like what she was about to do next was needed.

Quickly getting out of bed she packed everything in her bag but a clean set of clothes and her shower stuff. The trip to her destination would probably be a long one and it would be a while before she would get the chance to shower again. Once clean, dressed in clean clothes, and double checking that she had gotten everything back into her duffel, Ana was hurrying out of her room and toward the front desk to check out.

With one last thank you to the person working the desk, Ana was back on the sidewalks that she had become pretty familiar with. The vision still fresh in her mind, all she could think about was what the near future held for her and the rest of the world. Stopping to grab a to go cup of coffee from the small coffee shop just around the block from the bus station, she basically jogged the rest of the way there, itching for time to move a little faster. Unsurprisingly there was no one in the station and she was able to talk immediately with the woman at the ticket counter, "I need your next ticket out of here that will get me to Nebraska."

 **A/N: Helllloooooo everybody! So I apologize for all the jumping around time wise, there's only a little of it left until we are at where we're supposed to be. What do you think of the small Bobby cameo and the conversation between him and Chuck? What about the argument between Sam and Dean? Or Ana's meltdown? I would love to know! The BIG question here is- What in the Hell is Ana going to do in Nebraska? Do any of you know what's in Nebraska? If not, you'll find out soon!**

 **Also, big shout out to new favs and follows. I love getting those emails. I'm just still pretty awe struck that this story has picked up the following it has and I love you all so much!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter! There is much more to come :)**


	62. Chapter 62

**A/N: Hey guys, so just a quick note before you start this chapter. This one will focus on Sam and Dean. Next chapter focuses on Ana. I really wanted to take some time to focus on what the separated halves of the Winchester family are doing in this time. :) Who's ready for a good ol' fashioned hunt? Also, all lore in here is either from the show itself or from random tidbits I've picked up from different sources on the internet, none of it is mine.**

 **Happygoddess2003: Thank you so much for the reviews! I love hearing what you think after each chapter. I had to put Bobby in, it was just something that needed to happen and the way he and Chuck react to one another is great. It probably won't be the last we see of the two together. Yay for Ana feels! We're going to get more of those coming soon and much more of Sam stepping up as a big player in things. I hope you enjoy this Sam and Dean focused chapter.**

One month had passed since the day Dean had woken up to find Ana gone. One month with zero contact from his daughter. A week ago Sam was able to convince him that they needed to do something with themselves other than just sit around the bunker. Shortly before that Connor had informed them that he was going to temporarily live with the members of the High Council in the castle, saying that being in the bunker was becoming too much for him. Dean felt bad for the witch, he wasn't working through his grief the way he should have been because Ana's absence was getting too him. There were moments Dean wasn't entirely sure that Connor was thinking clearly at all, it was like his head was clouded by something along with the anger and worry he shifted back and forth between for Ana. He hoped that some time away from the bunker would do the kid some good, which in turn is probably what his younger brother was hoping by forcing Dean to go on the first hunt he could find.

"What are we going after again?" Dean asked as he tossed the last bag into the trunk of the Impala and closed the lid. Sam had done a lot of talking when he'd first brought up the case and Dean hadn't been paying attention at all. Thankfully Charlie was still there and subtly kicked him under the table in the library enough times for him to catch 'so go pack a bag. We're leaving in ten.' come out of his brother's mouth.

Sam sighed as he folded himself into the passenger seat, his phone and an article he'd printed off of the internet in his hand. "Of course he wasn't pay attention." he grumbled to himself just before Dean opened the door and slid into the seat next to him. "I'm not entirely sure what we're up against yet. In the past four days three men have gone missing from their campsites. There's no sign of struggle, no animal tracks, nothing."

"So we're going to have to get there and take this step by step is what you're telling me?" Dean questioned, pushing the key into the ignition while turning to look at his brother.

"Pretty much." Sam nodded, "It'll be nice to work a normal case. No angels, no demons or witches. Just you and me on the road, taking down monsters."

Dean scoffed as he turned the engine on, "Yeah, right." the words were muttered, the noise of the radio covering them up as he guided his baby out of the garage and onto open road. It may have been a nice change of pace from worrying about the big and bads, but he would feel a lot better about doing it if he wasn't still worried about Ana.

Looking over at his brother as he directed the car onto the main highway, Sam could tell that leaving to go on this hunt while Ana was still gone didn't sit right with him. There was no part of Sam that thought Ana was in any form of trouble while she was gone, she just needed the space and that was something he could fully understand. Dean needed to understand that too. With that thought in mind Sam decided that he would make the rest of their hunt feel as normal as possible and the first step of that was going to be all too easy. "Ugh, really?" He groaned as the song switched on the radio, "Change the station." he demanded, reaching his hand to do it himself.

"Hey!" Dean snapped, slapping Sam's outstretched hand away from his stereo. "I will cut off your hand, Sammy." he warned, reaching for the dial and turning the music up louder.

The younger Winchester groaned, "This is terrible, even for you this is terrible." he complained further, wondering how Dean even enjoyed this crap. Some of the stuff his brother listened to Sam could handle, he'd grown used to it over the years and even liked some of it, though he would never admit that to Dean, but the sound coming out of the speakers was the worst of it.

Dean scoffed, "So Styx isn't the best band, but this is one of their best songs! This is a classic!" he argued over the music, tapping his fingers to the beat on the steering wheel and beginning to sing along, mostly just to annoy Sam. "You see the world through your cynical eyes, you're a troubled young man I can tell. You've got it all in the palm of your hand, but your hand's wet with sweat and your head needs a rest. And you're fooling yourself if you don't believe it." He sang high pitch and off key, knowing very well the reaction he would get from his baby brother.

Wincing at the terrible sound of Dean's singing, Sam tried his best to relax back in his seat and ignore what was going on to his left. He had learned many things during the long time that he traveled in this car with his brother and one of those things was if he gave a reaction to something like this it would only get worse, so he bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from making another comment and focused outside the windshield instead.

* * *

It hadn't surprised Dean at all when they were only about five hours away from the bunker and Sam was already snoring in the seat next to him. Between the mass amount of searching he had been doing over the spell that the rogues had used against Ana, making sure that their system was still running right so they would get alerts if she accessed her phone or bank accounts, and keeping in contact with other hunters to watch out for any strange omens, Sam had been working pretty hard and not sleeping enough to keep up with it. His little brother may not have been as worried about Ana as he and Connor were, but he was focusing on the things that he assumed had driven her from them, which showed Dean that he wasn't completely lacking in feeling toward Ana like he had originally assumed when Sam showed little fear of her being gone.

Glancing over at Sam, the elder Winchester sighed as he directed the car off of the highway and into a gas station he had seen a sign for a couple miles back. Reaching over, he slapped the back of his hand against his brother's chest to wake him up. Dean tried to contain his laugh as Sam jerked awake, but failed miserably as the younger man frantically looked around for a threat and then groaned when he realized there wasn't one. "First stop along the way. Need anything?" He gestured toward the gas station.

"Naw, I'm good. Just going to go back to sleep." Sam closed his eyes again and rested his head against the window.

"We've got at least another seven hours in the car, Sammy. I'm not going to stop again unless we have to. You sure you don't want to get out, stretch, get something to eat or drink?" Dean hated stopping when they didn't have to, if they were going to be on the road he wanted to get to their destination as quick as possible.

Slightly opening his eyes, Sam glared at his brother, "I don't care. I'll eat when we get there." he grumbled, turning his face downward and going back to sleep.

With a shake of his head, Dean got out of the car. They would need a full tank of gas to get through the rest of the trip, or at least as close to their destination as possible, and he was going to need caffeine if he was going to make it there without having to switch Sam to let him drive. It had been so long since they had been on a normal hunt that Dean was no longer used to driving for long hours at a time, he would need the extra boost to keep him focused. One last look at Sam through the window, he turned to begin putting fuel into the car.

Making the stop quick, Dean went inside to pay when the tank was full, stopping only to get a black coffee and some chips. The snack would do to tide him over for the rest of the drive, if he put pedal to the floor they could make it to Illinois a little sooner than planned.

* * *

Stopping at the nearest motel once they pulled into town, they began to go over the information Sam had been able to get over the Internet in further detail. "So every case has been a camper?" Dean questioned as he got back in the car after booking their room. Putting the car back in drive he steered it toward the room they would be sharing while they were working there.

"From what I can tell." Sam offered, waiting until his brother stopped the car before getting out to help unload their bags. "All sites that had a man go missing were deep in the forest."

"Just men?" Dean raised an eyebrow at that, he had originally thinking about the possibility of a wendigo, but with it being gender specific like that the lore didn't line up.

Sam nodded, grabbing his duffle once the trunk was open and slinging it over his shoulder. Waiting for Dean to grab the rest, he glanced over the paper in his hand at the notes he had written down. "Dennis Lockwood was the most recent to go missing. He was on a weekend trip with his wife and two daughters. The first two were camping together, a pair of brothers, Kenneth and Chris Grant. They were reported missing after neither man had returned home on the scheduled date."

With a furrowed brow, Dean closed the trunk and walked around the car to the door of their room, unlocking it quickly before entering. He was mentally shuffling through years of information on creatures, the lore and mythology that had been programmed into his brain. "I'm not coming up with anything off first glance, you?" he threw his bag down on the bed closest to the door.

Sam shook his head, "Nothing generic at least."

"Generic?" The eldest Winchester questioned with a scoff, "How weird is it that we not only hunt down the world's evil and dangerous, but that we can now categorize some of it as generic?"

Giving a short laugh, Sam sighed and he put his bag down on the second bed, sitting down next to it as he answered. "After what we've been through, there is a sort of made up classification system. Don't you think?"

"Well yeah, you have the basics. Vamps, werewolves, shifters, and ghosts. Then you've got the less frequent monsters. Djinn, kitnuse, rugaru, ghouls." Dean thought out loud as he considered the type of ordering system the creatures they went up against could be placed in. Sitting across from his brother he continued, "Let's not forget the really annoying ones. Amazons, dragons, dark witches, and sirens. Top tier douchebags would have to be angels, demons, leviathans, and gods- pompous dick wads, all of 'em."

Sam raised an eyebrow at Dean's ranking system of monsters before chuckling, "Sounds about right to me." He agreed with a small sigh, their lives would never be anything close to normal. "So far I think we can rule out the 'basics' as you called them. If it were anything like that they wouldn't have left the girls in the Lockwood family."

Nodding, Dean laid back against the bed, covering his face with his hands as he thought. "Wendigo wouldn't have left the chicks either and they would have left some sort of evidence more than likely." Pushing himself up on his elbows, he focused his eyes back on his brother. "We're going to have to actually research this one instead of just finding the thing and killing it right of the bat, aren't we?"

"Looks like. Park services?" Sam offered, knowing that with lack of evidence the police would be no help, not unless they needed to track down a link between the victims, but this didn't seem like that type of case.

"Park services." Dean agreed, standing up off of his bed with a groan. He was pretty tired and probably should have been sleeping instead of jumping head first into this case, but the faster they got done with this the sooner he could go back to focusing his energy on finding Ana.

The drive to the camping grounds where the men had gone missing wasn't a long one, they had purposefully picked the motel closest to the end of town so they could quickly get back and forth. This whole thing reminded Dean so much of the wendigo case that they had taken on right after Jess' death that he was starting to get edgy, he hated wendigos and really felt no need to ever see one again. "So if this thing is really going after men only, do you think it was a wise decision for it to just be the two of us?" He glanced at Sam in question, maybe they should have brought Charlie.

"I think we can handle it, Dean. We've been up against other creatures that prey on men, we made it out of those just fine." Sam scoffed, it wasn't like this was their first hunt. "Whatever this is can't be as bad as going up against a leviathan, man or woman those things were a pain to kill."

"Yeah, you're right." With that agreement, Dean parked the Impala in front of the small cabin near the beginning of the forest. This particular set of woods was a less traveled area of a national forest and that was the only reason they even had a park services on this side of the woods. Getting out of the car, Dean glanced at his brother over the top and gave him a slight nod.

Once in the station, Sam moved to grab a map, knowing that they would need it if they were going to make it through the forest. Opening it up, he glanced toward the desk that his brother was waiting at for whatever ranger was on shift to come talk to him. Looking back down at the map in his hands he began to study it more carefully, there didn't seem to be anything really notable. Trees, streams, a lake about five miles in, and if you hiked up far enough there was a sort of cliff face that looked to drop pretty far to the ground below. Taking all of these things into consideration, Sam began to think of what could be hiding within the wilderness.

"How can I help you?" The feminine voice pulled Sam's attention away from the map and toward the desk. There was a female ranger standing behind it with a kind smile as her eyes glanced back and forth between the brothers.

Dean instantly perked up as his eyes studied the woman who stood in front of him, "Hi there. My brother and I were planning on taking a camping trip in the forest, but we wanted to ask some questions about the disappearances you've been having first. We don't let much stop us from some time out in nature, but neither of us can chance going missing."

Sam rolled his eyes, some of the lies his brother came up with were pretty terrible, and that paired with the flirtatious look he was sure Dean was using made him step in. "Yeah, his daughter would be really upset if he were to get eaten by a bear."

The ranger laughed softly, "Well I can assure you that these disappearances aren't due to a bear." she explained, watching as the man in front of her turned to look at the taller man across the room. "The police aren't even entirely sure that these are chance disappearances. With no sign of struggle and our searches turning up nothing, I heard they're starting to think that these men chose to leave and 'disappear' on their own."

"I guess that means we can continue on with our trip. Thank you so much." Sam spoke before Dean could get the chance, sending his brother a look before gesturing toward the door. He led the way out the door, stopping next to the Impala he sighed and frowned, "We're not going to get any help on this one."

Dean nodded, glancing over his shoulder back at the station. "So we do this old school. It may take a lot of research, but we focus on forest dwelling monsters who target men and leave no trace behind."

Rolling his eyes, Sam opened up the door to the passenger side and considered how long it would take them to get through every piece of lore that could meet those qualifications and the number of theories they would have to work through. "I'll call Charlie and see if she can dig up some stuff on her end."

* * *

They'd stopped to pick up food on the way back to their room and the moment Dean was done eating he fell back on the bed he'd claimed as his and passed out just after giving Sam instructions to wake him up in two hours. Four hours had passed and the younger Winchester had come up with only a couple possibilities. Turns out when you search for something as generic as creatures who target men and live in the woods you get a wide variety of suggestions, most of which did not follow those qualifications. He had just stepped back into the room after taking a call from Charlie and grabbing a bottle of juice from the vending machine when Dean shot straight up in his bed, pulling his pistol out from under his pillow and aiming it at Sam. "Dude. Really?"

"Sorry." Dean grumbled as he lowered his weapon, sitting up and tucking it back under his pillow for now. Rubbing the heels of his hands against his eyes, he yawned before glancing at the clock on the table between both beds. "I told you to wake me up two hours ago."

Sam frowned at his brother as he pushed the door closed, "You obviously needed the sleep and there wasn't much you could have done to help. Charlie and I have both been searching for hours and haven't come up with anything other than a list of guesses."

"What have you got so far?" Dean stood and moved over to the small table in the room, ready to listen to whatever had been found, hoping to help narrow the list down some or offer an idea.

Crossing the room and taking a seat in front of his laptop, Sam pulled up his research and glanced at it. "Other than a long list of generic forest spirits and fae like creatures, I've come up with Pukwudgies who don't pray specifically on men, but they are said to have magical powers so they would be able to take the men and leave no trace. They're a Native American legend. Human looking creatures who are only about two to three feet tall with enlarged noses, fingers, and ears. They used to be kind to humans, but something happened, the what is different in each legend, but it turned them against us. So now they trick humans into their own deaths or kill them with poisoned arrows."

"If their normal MO doesn't center around male victims I saw we take it off of the list. There was that family with the girls and mom, none of them were harmed." Dean suggested, if they were going to finish this case anytime soon they needed to narrow it down fast.

"I was thinking the same thing, which brings around the next option. There's a Mexican urban legend of a witch who was killed by her neighbors after they found out about her powers. It's said that she returned as a human sized owl with the face of a woman who uses coos and sounds that are similar to a baby's cry to lure victims in. She snatches them up in her claws, flies them away to her nest, and eats them." Sam explained, looking at the quick notes he had scribbled on a the motel stationary. "It's a local legend around the Texas/Mexico border, but this wouldn't be the first time something like this has traveled. Also, nothing says that she targets anything specific." With a shrug, he pulled up the email Charlie had sent him. "Now Charlie came across a couple of things that could be contenders as well. There's a Philippine legend, something called Manananggal-"

"Now you're just making stuff up." Dean interrupted, thinking the name sounded a little funny.

Sam glared at his brother a moment before continuing, "Manananggal is said to be an evil, man eating, and blood sucking monster. Mostly described as a hideous, scary looking female with the capability of sprouting wings. Again, nothing specific about her victims." Pulling up the next set of information, he nodded glancing over it even though Charlie had just explained it to him over the phone. "Charlie and I both agree that this last one is probably the most likely."

"Then why didn't you start with this one?" Dean groaned, the options Sam had already stated sounding weird even for the things he and his brother hunted.

"Because we have to cover our basis, now shut up." The younger Winchester snapped before turning back to his laptop, "It's called a huldra. Legend comes from both Christian and Norse folklore. Some of it is generally the same; a beautiful, wild looking woman with the tail of a cow which she hides behind her back when in the presence of a human. Christian tale says that she was a human child of Adam and Eve, Norse states that she's just a woodland spirit. Both are iffy about if she's good or bad, but popular legend says that she lures in men with her beauty, then leads them to their deaths."

Dean mulled that information over, "It would make sense. If she's getting these guys to follow her because of her pretty face there would be no struggle and for something like that there would be no trouble hiding a body. I think it's our best bet. How do we kill her?"

Sam shrugged, "Charlie said she was still looking into it and would send-" he paused, clicking around on his laptop, "Nevermind, I just got her second email. I guess she found another legend that says the huldra is similar to nymphs in Greek mythology as they both have overactive sex drives. She seduces these men and if they're able to satisfy her she lets them live, if they can't that's when she kills them. Apparently even if the men can satisfy her, she continues to use them until they basically die from overexertion."

"What is with chick monsters and killing dudes with sex?" Dean scrunched his face up, "Does this one say how we can kill her?"

"Being similar to nymphs, a huldra is not immortal." Sam quoted the text Charlie had sent him, "I'm assuming that means we can just go at her with normal weapons. Nothing special."

Dean gave a nod and stood from his chair, "Alright, let's go take out this bitch."

* * *

Parking the Impala as close to the tree line as he could, Dean killed the engine and hurried out. The sun was still high in the sky, but it was a bit of a hike to the camping sites where the men went missing and they were hoping to get this done while the sun was still up. Trekking back through the trees in darkness was not something either Winchester wanted to do. Opening the trunk, Dean glanced around before lifting the lid to the hidden compartment and glancing through things.

"What are you looking for?" Sam questioned, they each already had their guns on them, other than a flashlight he didn't think that they would need anything else.

Sending a sideways glance at his brother, Dean grabbed a silver knife and stashed it away inside of his jacket. "I don't want to get up there and find out our guns don't work. I figured we should cover our bases. Silver, iron, salt, and an angel blade. Just in case."

Sam paused a minute to consider Dean's train of thought before nodding, "Makes sense." he agreed, having faith that the information they got from Charlie was right, but if one of them were enthralled by the huldra's seduction powers and their guns didn't work it would be very bad. With that in mind, he began to arm himself with other weapons as well.

Once fully armed both brothers turned their attention to the forest, ready to begin the hike so they could get this over with. Sam took lead, he had been studying the map he'd taken of the forest and had memorized the way to the area where the missing men had been camping. Both men kept their eyes on the woods, in the report of the most recent disappearance the wife stated that her husband hadn't gone far from their camp and it had been during the daytime. That meant that they could be attacked at any moment, something that kept them on high alert for everything. They had been walking for close to a half hour when Sam finally stopped and looked around the campsite they had come across, pulling the map out of his back pocket he opened it to make sure they were in the right spot. "Alright, this is the first sight."

"You said that the second one was east of here?" Dean questioned, glancing in that direction and then back to the campsite they were at. His mind was frantically working to come up with some sort of solution, a direction to go, something that would draw the huldra out so they could kill her.

"Yeah." Sam went over the nearest landmarks of the forest in his head, not wanting to bother pulling the map out when he was one hundred percent sure he had it perfectly memorized. "So these men go missing without a trace, right? No marks to follow, no bodies left to be found, assuming that she's killed at least one of them off for not 'satisfying her'. The park rangers had a search team out for days and nothing from either families."

Dean began following his brother's train of thought, easily picking up on where Sam was going with it, "Bodies don't just disappear, so she's obviously doing something with them once she's had her fun."

"If she's getting rid of the bodies, wherever she's ditching them would probably be close to where she normally stays. A forest creature like this probably has a cave or something similar that she probably stays at." Sam was trying to narrow down locations where they should look first. "The lake or the cliff face. The lake is deep enough near the center to sink a body and the cliff is high enough that anything on the ground is too far down to see normally."

Dean frowned, "A cliff in the middle of a forest?"

Sam sighed, "Yes, there must have been some shift in plates or corrosion near the rock face for it to happen. Can we focus on what's really important right now, like the case?"

"Bitch." Dean snapped, he wasn't used to Sam stepping up like this and taking control mid hunt. Normally it was himself with the lead or at least he felt like it was. No doubt Sam pulled the majority of the research and smarts for the pair, but Dean liked to think that to balance that out he was the one to come up with the best plans. Maybe he was off his game this time around or maybe his thoughts were just completely wrong in the first place.

"Jerk." Sam retorted on impulse, watching a flicker of emotion run across his brother's face before quickly disappearing. It was probably worry for Ana, Dean was still so wrapped up in it that Sam continued to push this case on, trying to get them to the bottom of it quicker by pulling more weight. He had been wrong to assume that a hunt would help distract his brother's worries, it seemed that maybe it just made them worse. "So either we both go to each location or we split up."

At the suggestion Dean scoffed, "There's way too much distance between the lake and the cliff for us to split up. I don't care if we're doing this all damn day, but I'm not risking either of us getting caught of guard by this thing just to be seduced and dragged off to be her personal sex slave."

"Good point. Which location do you think we're going to have the most luck with?" Sam wanted to know, he had way more faith in Dean's gut instinct than he did his own.

Considering their options, both brother's came to the same conclusion, "Lake." Sharing a quick nod, they walked away from the campsite and in the direction of the lake, Sam taking lead again so they wouldn't get lost among the vast amount of trees. The hike was another hour to the lake and the sun was beginning to sink slowly in the sky, they needed to move faster if they wanted to get this over with before night set in. As the trees began to thin out the closer they got to the lake both men pulled their guns from the back of their jeans, readying themselves for the possibility that this creature could be closer than they thought.

Dean glanced around, hoping that this would just be easy and the huldra would show itself so they could kill her and be done with it. The lake was large, the back of it meeting the tall hills that were backed by small mountains. Seeing that the tree line was close enough to the water for someone to hide in, he knew that splitting up would be the quickest idea, at least they would be in shouting distance of one another. "You head left, I'll go right. We look for twenty minutes and then meet back here."

Sam nodded, gun gripped tightly in his hand as he turned to walk the curve of the lake. All they needed was some sign that would lead them back to where this creature was living, but he knew how unlikely that was. Deciding to stay just inside the tree line, he looked around for any tracks, listening for any sounds that were out of place, but he wasn't finding anything. When fifteen minutes was up, the youngest Winchester turned around and began the walk back toward his brother, hoping that Dean had been more successful in finding something.

* * *

Dean had watched Sam walk away for a few moments before turning his own direction and moving away from the lake. He was beginning to develop a hatred for hunts that led to the wilderness, it was always harder to find what they were looking for and he could do without the damn bugs trying to attack him every other second. Ten minutes had passed and he was beginning to think that he wouldn't find anything until a snapping sound came from behind him. Spinning around with his gun raised, he watched the trees for sign of movement, but when he didn't see anything he turned back around only to come face to face with a woman. A beautiful, blonde haired, naked woman. Very naked. Taking a step back, he tried to keep his mind focused on the fact that this wasn't just a woman, she was a monster and she was killing men.

"Hello." The woman spoke with a soft smile, her eyes roaming up and down the man's body. "Yes, you will do just fine." With the decision she let the full force of her power caress the man's mind, watching as his eyes took on a slightly glazed over look and he lowered his weapon. "This way, dear."

Without second thought Dean let his pistol drop to the ground and followed the woman, a small voice in the back of his head pondering the tail coming out of the lower part of her back, but he was too far gone to care.

* * *

It didn't take long for Sam to reach the point he had began at. He waited a few extra minutes for Dean to show up, but when there was no sign of him after ten minutes had passed the younger man swore and hurried in the direction his brother had gone. "Dean!" he yelled the name into the trees, hoping that beyond reason that the other man was just being slow returning or that he'd picked up on a trail that he didn't want to lose so he was waiting for Sam to inevitably come find him. When there was no response Sam yelled again, more frantic, "DEAN!"

About a mile to the north Dean heard the worried call of his brother, though it was faint. Pulling his lips away from the woman's, he glanced around, head clearing slightly, "Sam?" The woman shushed him softly, wrapping her hand around the back of his neck and pulling his lips crashing back down to her own.

The sun was closer to the horizon causing Sam to panic further, his chances of finding Dean were less likely in the dark. Swearing again, he picked up his pace and began to jog through the woods, only coming to a stop when something shined a light in his eyes. He frowned, walking toward the metal object that was reflecting the sun, only to find that it was Dean's gun lying discarded on the ground. Kneeling to pick it up, he dusted the dirt off of it, his eyes glancing around before falling back to the ground. "Thank God." Sam muttered, never being so thankful in his life that they worked in heavy boots, the tracks of which were clear on the forest floor. With both guns in his hands he stood and followed the tracks, forcing himself to walk quietly, but quickly. It took a while before he came to a group of trees that were more dense than the rest of the forest, a group of twenty or so of them overlapping one another so that if there was anything in the middle of them someone couldn't see in from the outside. Dean's boot prints led into the mass of trees and Sam could only assume that this was where the Huldra lured all of the men she attacked.

Raising both guns, Sam moved through the trees silently, hoping that he had made it to his brother in time. As the trees cleared toward the center, his eyes landed on something he could do without seeing ever again. Dean was lying on the ground, the huldra straddling him, though thankfully his brother still had pants on. It seemed that the creature enjoyed taking her time before finally taking her victims. With a quick shake of his head Sam stepped all the way through the trees, both guns aimed at the cow-tailed woman who was dry humping his brother. Making sure that when he fired the bullets wouldn't hit Dean if they escaped the monster's body, he fired twice, a bullet from each gun.

Dean jumped at the sound of gunfire and then at the sudden dead weight of the woman on top of him. It took a long minute for his head to clear, but once it had he was pushing the huldra off of him, his head turning to look at Sam.

"You good?" The younger brother asked as he moved further into the trees. Dean still looked at little dazed as his head turned back to focus on the dead creature.

Blinking his eyes rapidly, Dean gave his brother a slow nod before standing up, realizing that he was shirtless and that his pants were undone for the first time. With a shudder he fixed his jeans and then went on the search for his shirts and jacket. "Freaking woods." he muttered once he found the pile of his clothes.

Sam let out a huff of breath, glad that Dean seemed to be alright. He waited until his brother was dressed again before handing over his pistol. Without saying another word, both brother's turned and made their way to the west which would lead them out of the forest, back to where they had left the car. It was a long hike back, the sun having completely set hours before they reached the Impala.

Unloading the excess of weapons they were carrying, they put everything back into the compartment in the trunk before moving to the cab of the vehicle. Each man let out a relieved sigh as they sat down, needing the moment to catch their bearings before they went back to the motel to get some sleep. They would wait to leave town until the next morning. Dean straightened himself out in his seat and slipped the key into the ignition, a small sparkle filling his eyes as the motor rumbled.

"So I have a question." Sam broke the silence they had been comfortable in since the beginning of their hike back, "Why do you always fall for the female monster thing? The one night stand with the Amazon, sleeping with the angel Anna, now this huldra thing. You got a thing for freaky girls or something?" He asked, trying and failing to hold back a snicker as he teased his brother.

"Like you're any better. Werewolf chick, Ruby, and then that kitsune girl." Dean pointed out with a scowl.

Sam sighed, "I only slept with Ruby and at least I never had a kid with any of them. Ana's mom may not have been a witch, but you do have a not so human daughter."

"Shut up, bitch." Dean grumbled, too tired to think about Ana and the fact that she was still missing.

"Whatever, jerk." Sam grinned, happy to have some sort of upper hand on his brother since the argument had turned against him.

 **Quick note: Sorry, this took much longer to get up than I thought. I tried to make it very show like and that took a little more work than I thought it would. The song reference toward the beginning is Fooling Yourself by Styx. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)**


	63. Chapter 63

**A/N: Who's ready for an Ana centric chapter? Or to figure out what in the world she's doing in Nebraska? I really hope you all like the new twist I'm putting in! Let me know what you think. :)**

 **Happygoddess2003: It makes me so happy that you know that song. I love Styx and they seem like a very underrated band to me, had to give them some love. I'm glad you thought it was a good point to insert that hunt, I felt like the boys needed to be doing something other than sitting around. I'm really glad you enjoyed it, I always love hearing from you. :)**

It had taken about a month to reconstruct the building. The contractor she had hired kept asking if she was sure that she didn't want it to look more advanced, more modern, but Ana was set on the idea that the building needed to be made an exact replica of the one that stood in the same place years before. Though there were some things that just weren't able to be made the exact way. She had made sure that the bar was slightly upgraded, that the kitchen was beyond the requirements of meeting the health food code, and even though it was all made from dark wood the building, along with its inside furnishings, didn't bear the marks of time as the first had. That was all alright though, in enough time the place would be filled with hunters again and they would all leave their own mark on the place.

The rebuild had drained what was left of her college savings account, but Ana didn't care. This was something she felt had to be done, this place was needed in the world and she'd made it her mission to keep the memory of the previous owners alive through the life of the place. Her first step in that task was having the sign that would light but the night made, exactly like the first and she smiled as she looked up at the words. Harvelle Roadhouse. Ellen and Jo would be so damn proud to see that sign light up again if they had been there, Ana knew that for sure. The second and third tasks of that mission were both hard and emotional. Ana had made her way to Bobby's in search of the last photo taken with the mother and daughter in it, which had been difficult, but she didn't stop until she had found it. The last thing she did was go into the nearest city to have a plaque made, which she now held against her chest as she looked up at the building, it would be the last thing to go up on the wall before she would declare the place ready for business. Holding the framed piece of metal out in front of her, she read the words with a sad smile on her lips.

In Loving Memory of

Bill, Ellen, and Jo Harvelle

Taking in a deep breath Ana moved toward the door, ready to hang this on the wall behind the bar next to the picture from Bobby's, then everything would be ready. Then the Roadhouse would be open, a haven for hunters once again. It would take a while before business began to pick up, she knew that it would take some time for word to spread around to hunters that the place had been reconstructed and was open. She had a few hunters other than her family programmed into her phone, she could give them a call over the bar's phone and let them know that she'd heard the Roadhouse was open. Hunters talked, word would probably get around quickly.

Digging her cell phone out of her pocket she opened up her contacts and looked for the two names she was searching for. There was another she could call, but she wouldn't risk Garth letting her family know she had called him. The first number she dialed went straight to voicemail, which wasn't anything new, the hunter on the other end rarely answered his phone. "Hey Zack, it's Ana. Heard that someone had the old Harvelle Roadhouse up and running again, was just wondering if you'd heard anything about it. I know you won't call me back, but if you hear anything let me know." She hung up the phone, staring at her cell phone again. The service had been turned off right after she left her family and she had removed the chip that could track it, she wasn't chancing being found. The only reason she still had the device was for emergency phone numbers that she didn't have memorized and the mass amount of pictures saved to it. Sighing she found the next number and dialed it, glad that she'd met hunters who were closer to her than they were with her father and uncle. Neither of the Winchesters even knew she had met these hunters so they probably hadn't been informed of her sudden disappearance.

Again all she received was a voicemail, hunters didn't answer numbers they didn't know, she hadn't expected anything different. "Khloe, it's your favorite Winchester. Look, I heard down the line that someone had reopened the Harvelle Roadhouse and was wondering if you had heard anything? Give me a call back at this number if you do. Thanks." Hanging up Ana knew that in enough time word would get around and hunters would once again find a place of comfort here, she only had to have a little patience.

* * *

A little patience turned into a week and a half of it. Which gave Ana time to get a sever case of cabin fever. She'd cleaned the place, which wasn't really needed since it had just been built and no one had been inside since the building crew left other than her. She organized and reorganized the stock of liquor, moved the pictures around on the walls until she was sure she was happy with the placement, and had made sure that each of the rooms open for hunters who needed a place to crash had a bed with clean sheets. Everyday she would turn the open sign on, every night the words Harvelle Roadhouse lit up the darkness, and at about two in the morning she would turn everything off.

That afternoon had been like all of the rest. Ana slept until about one, woke up and showered, left her long hair to dry and dressed in comfortable jeans, a black tank top, and a long sleeved plaid shirt that she left unbuttoned. Making her way downstairs, she flipped the breaker that turned on the open sign and the sensor that would light up the bigger sign when night settled in before heading into the kitchen to make coffee. She watched as the pot slowly filled, sliding the empty coffee cup that waited to be filled back and forth on the metal prep table that the coffee maker sat on. The sound of a bell ringing out in the bar made her jump. That was the bell above the door, someone was in the bar.

"Hello?" a male voice called out, carrying to Ana through the window at the end of the kitchen.

"One moment!" She called back, moving toward the one of many shelves she kept a gun waiting on. Grabbing the pistol, she tucked it in the back of her jeans, using her loose plaid shirt to cover it. There was no telling who the person was on the other side of the wall and even with hunters, she wasn't taking any risks. Calming herself, she pushed through the swinging door, eyes scanning the room quickly until they landed on the man sitting at her bar. "What can I do for you?" she questioned with a smile. It was clear in the guarded look of his brown eyes that the man before her had seen some things in his life and that paired with the baggy jacket he wore that would hide weapons gave her all the information she needed. She had gotten her first hunter through the door.

"Bottle of beer?" He questioned, his eye studying her the way hers had studied him moments before.

Ana nodded, "I think I can do that." Turning she moved toward one of the two tall fridges that housed bottled drinks. Grabbing a beer, she grabbed a bottle opener, popped the top and then slid it across the bar to the man.

Inclining his head in thanks, the man brought the bottle to his lips and took a long drink of the liquid inside. He watched as the woman moved around the bar, her hands adjusting bottles and other things along the way. "I take it you're the one who opened this place back up?" He questioned, having not seen or heard another person in the building.

"Yep." She answered, turning to look at him. "Thought it had been long enough, someone needed to do it."

"You know the Harvelle's?" He questioned, having noticed the plaque and the picture that were at the back of the bar above the cash register. Though he couldn't be certain, he swore that the Winchesters and Singer were in that picture with the Harvelle women.

Ana sighed and shook her head, "Not personally, but they were like extended family. Wanted to keep their memory alive in this place."

"Looks to me like you're doing a good job of it." he offered, extending his hand out to her, "My name is Logan."

"Ana, nice to meet you Logan." She gave him a friendly smile as she shook his hand.

"Ana?" He questioned, pausing as he glanced back to the picture at the back of the bar before looking back at the brown haired woman in front of him. "As in Ana Winchester?" Logan had never had the pleasure of meeting any of the Winchesters, but word had spread quickly through the hunter circles about Dean's daughter. He'd heard it from Garth, which was where he got most of his leads on new cases, but Garth had said that the girl he'd met had a fire in her almost as bright as her red hair. Women were known for dyeing their hair though, this could easily be the same Ana.

Ana raised an eyebrow before letting out a convincing chuckle, "Ana Hoyt. I hadn't heard that there was another Winchester around."

Logan nodded, "Yeah, Dean's long lost daughter or something like that. My mistake on that by the way, just assumed with the whole Harvelle's being like family and the picture on the back wall."

"Oh yeah!" Ana smiled and turned toward the picture, "The guys cleaning out the rubble from the first building found that buried under some stuff. It's a miracle it survived." she explained, the week and a half without customers had given her time to make up any story she'd need to explain things like this.

His brow furrowed, that didn't seem likely, but he wasn't about to push the subject since it was really none of his business. "So, you a hunter then?"

Looking back at Logan, Ana shrugged, "Gave it a go there for a while, I'm not too bad at it, but I'd also like to stay out of the front line of the business. I think I've found my calling in this place by keeping a safe place for other hunters to come to, for information, a place to relax, or a place to sleep."

"You got boarding? Because I just wrapped up this nasty vamp hunt a few towns over and could use a place to crash." He spoke, taking another drink of the beer.

Ana studied him a minute, noticing the exhausted look in his eyes and the slump of his body at her bar. "Of course. All of the rooms are open and since you're my first visitor you can take your pick. Upstairs is off limits though." she warned, having made the top floor into her own apartment.

Only nodding in response, Logan set his empty bottle on the bar top and stood up. "Run me a tab for the room and the beer? Probably won't be the last before I head out of here."

"You got it." She assured him, watching as he walked toward the hallway the led toward the back part of the building where the spare rooms where. Once he was out of her sight, she moved back into the kitchen to make that cup of coffee.

Logan walked down the hall and turned into a room that stood in the same spot the room he had stayed there the last time he'd been to the place. That was eight years ago, he'd been sixteen at the time and on the road alone. Ellen and Jo had been too kind to him, not expecting him to pay for anything, even giving him a part time job bussing tables to make a little money. He had left shortly before the place had been burned down and had almost ignored the rumor flying around that someone had rebuilt the place and opened it back up. Behind the privacy of the closed bedroom door, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and made a call to the person who he'd heard it from. "Hey, it's me. The rumor is true, I'm in the building now." he paused listening to the man on the other end, "Yeah, a woman by the name of Ana. Said she'd hunted for a while, but gave up the game to do this." Another pause, thankfully he was used to only getting a few words in when talking to the other hunter. "No, it's not the Winchester girl. Yes, Garth, I'm sure." He sighed as the man went over the description of the woman again. Garth had been in touch with every hunter he knew in hopes that someone would spot Ana Winchester and be able to give him a lead so he could pass it along to the Winchester men. "Yeah, I know, red hair, green eyes. This woman is a brunette with blue eyes, Garth, it's not the Ana you're looking for. Sorry man, wish I had better news. Just let the other's know that the Roadhouse _is_ up and running, a way station for hunters once again." With that he ended the call and fell back on the bed, ready for some much needed rest.

-A-

It seemed that after Logan's appearance everyone heard about the truth behind the rumor, two short hours passed before two more hunters walked through her door. Ana had been sitting at the bar looking through a book full of spells she had been working on reading before anything with the Council and the rogue witches had happened, she'd been making a lot of headway on it and now that she'd had the time she continued where she left of. Looking up from the pages in front of her at the sound of the bell, she was met by the sight of two men, one holding most of the weight of the other as they shuffled through the door. Both men were covered in blood and different wounds, but the one in worse shape had a large patch of red stained across his stomach. "What happened?" she exclaimed, jumping off of the stool and hurrying toward the men.

"Freaking pair of Vetala." The man carrying his comrade explained, grunting under the weight of his partner.

Ana shook her head, of course on her first day of hunters through the door someone had to come in and test her control. She refused to use her power, but she also refused to let a hunter die who didn't deserve to. "Follow me." she instructed, leading the pair toward the back of the building. She'd left the first room empty of a bed, placing only a couple of cots and cabinets full of medical supplies. There had been no doubt in her mind that she would get the injured hunter from time to time, but this was a lot sooner than she'd thought it would happen. Opening the door, she signaled for the man to set his partner on a cot and moved to grab a bunch of supplies. "Did either of you get bit?" she questioned, moving over toward the cot.

"Almost, but Rick attacked before they could, which was how he ended up like this. One of them threw him through a window and he landed on a piece of glass." The man explained, watching as the younger woman moved around.

Grabbing a large packet of gauze, she threw it to the less injured man. "Slow the bleeding." she commanded, before grabbing a few more things in the large clear bin she'd been throwing things in. Moving toward the bed, she looked down at the man, Rick, who looked like he was about to lose consciousness. "You gotta stay awake for me, Rick." she told him, knowing the dangers of anyone succumbing to the darkness of blood loss. Looking to the man sitting across from her she calmed herself before speaking again, "I'm going to have to stitch him up fast. If the cut is too deep we're going to run into some problems, if he starts to fight against me I need you to hold him down." she instructed. The other man nodded, eyes meeting hers for a moment before focusing back on his friend. Ana quickly prepped the needle and stitching thread, before grabbing a bottle of rubbing alcohol that she'd need to clean the wound with. "Move your hands." she instructed, grabbing a folded piece of gauze herself ready to pour the liquid. The other man moved his hands and Ana moved quickly, pulling Rick's shirt up in one swift move before pouring the alcohol along the wide gash. Wincing at the sight of the size of the wound, Ana took a long look to make sure the glass hadn't injured any of the man's organs before grabbing the needle and setting to work.

"Ana?" A voice came from the door that she recognized as Logan's. "Woah, what the hell happened to you two?" he questioned, comprehending what the young woman was doing once he walked further into the room. The sound of the talking and thudding of Ana moving through her supplies had woken him up.

The other man looked up from his friend and toward the younger man who'd walked into the room. Pausing a moment, he squinted his eyes, "Logan? Is that you?"

Logan paused and studied the other man, "Jerry? That means this is Rick, right?" he barely remembered the two mens' names. They had met at the Roadhouse the last time Logan had been there and he knew both men were on Garth's list of hunters, the list that he sent information and cases to. It wasn't chance that all three of them were near to the rebuilt Roadhouse.

"Will you two shut up?" Ana snapped, not pausing as she continued to stitch the wound, trying very hard not to gag at the sight before her. Stitching had always been her father's job, he'd had much more practice at it than she had. The conversation stopped and she was glad for it, her focus regrouping entirely on what she was doing. A few moments later she was done and tying a knot in the thread. With a sigh, she cut the excess with scissors and placed two fingers on Rick's wrist, feeling for a pulse while slightly sending out her magic to make sure she'd got the bleeding to stop in time. "He'll be alright, that muscle is going to take a while to heal properly." she informed the other man, Jerry, before standing up and moving to clean the mess that had been made.

"Thank you, Ana?" he spoke her name in question, looking at the girl as the name Will had spoken registered in his head. "Ana Winchester?"

Shaking her head, Ana bit back a swear, this was going to be harder than she hoped it would. Apparently her family had gotten the word out far and wide that she'd been missing, "Nope. Hoyt." she answered, not looking at Jerry as she grabbed the last of the bloodied gauze and stood to throw it away. "What's up with this Winchester anyway? Second time in the same day I've been asked by hunters if I'm her." she questioned, glancing over her shoulder to look at Logan and Jerry.

"Everyone's on the lookout for her. One day she just up and disappeared, her dad and uncle have been going nuts trying to find her. Got every hunter they know telling every hunter they know to look out for her." Jerry answered, studying the girl a moment before looking over at Logan. "It seems the same word got out about you opening up this place. Garth sent us on that hunt for the Vetala."

Logan raised an eyebrow, "Vetala? I just cleaned out a small vamp nest about two hundred miles west of here."

"We came from about a half hour north. Hoping that the rumor was true and this place would still be able to help a hunter out like it used to." Jerry explained, "Thanks for that, by the way. We weren't planning on having this much trouble with it, we didn't have the supplies to fix this up." he aimed the last part at Ana.

She nodded as she washed her hand in the large sink she'd had installed in the room, "No problem. Part of the reason I opened the place back up." she assured him. Grabbing a towel to dry her hands, she turned back around to look at the men, "Want me to take a look at your wounds too?"

Jerry shook his head, "It's all superficial stuff, I'll be fine." he assured her, "I'll take you up on a room if you've got one though."

"Other than Logan there's no one else staying here, take one of the open ones. I'll keep an eye on Rick, but I'm almost certain he just needs to sleep through some of the healing." She assured him with a soft smile. This is why she'd opened the Roadhouse up again, hunters were always getting hurt, always needing information, always in need of a safe place to come to if they would ever need to hide.

"I'm staying down the hall further, there's a room right across the hall you can take." Logan explained, moving out of the way as Jerry stood up and moved toward the door. He and Ana watched as the tired man made his way out of the room. "Well, I'm going to go back to sleep, if you need help with anything just holler."

"Actually," Ana spoke, stopping him before he could leave, "would you do me a favor and give Garth a call? See if he's sent any more hunters out this way?"

He paused and studied her a moment, "When he called to give me the heads up on the vamp case he commented on the amount of action that had been happening around here. It all started up about a month ago."

"Right around the time I had the contractors come and start to rebuild here." She muttered, wondering if it was all connected, but why would monsters be coming closer to a place they knew a bunch of hunters would start to frequent. None of this sat right with Ana, "Strange, I guess I'll make sure everything's ready in case I get anymore visitors." she told him with a small smile, "Go get some more sleep, hopefully I won't have anymore half dead hunters coming through the door and you all can get some rest."

Logan nodded and covered his mouth as he yawned before pushing the same hand through the blonde hair atop his head. He gave her a slight wave then left the room, not ready to function normally unless he absolutely had to.

Ana finished cleaning up the supplies and stopped to clean Rick's stitches before placing a clean bandage over it. Checking on his pulse one more time, she left him to rest and moved back toward the bar space. Moving back to the seat she had been in when Jerry had basically dragged Rick through the door she continued to read her book, wondering how soon she should expect to have more hunters through her door.

-A-

It turned out that Garth had sent eleven hunters out total to take care of jobs that were oddly close to the new Roadhouse and as night settled in all but one of them were sitting at Ana's bar, Rick was still sleeping off the blood loss. Ana was grabbing a couple of beers out of the fridge, happy that there were people here, even if it was under odd circumstances. As she walked back toward the pair that the beers were for, she tuned back into the conversation the hunters were having. "Something weird has to be going down for so many monsters to be around this area. I took out a nest of vamps, Jerry and Rick took down two Vetala, now you're saying that there was a Rugaru three towns over?" Logan asked an older man sitting two chairs away from him.

"Couple of them." The man answered, looking at the woman who sat between himself and Logan. She was the only other female in the bar other than the woman who had opened the place back up, "What'd you say that Garth sent you to, Jackie?"

The woman, Jackie, sighed and finished off the whiskey that was in her glass. "Freaking Siren. I hate the bitches, but Garth had you all out on the other hunts. Said the Winchesters were caught up in their own hunt for the girl and I was the only other hunter he could call."

Ana had been listening to the conversation while she cleaned, served drinks, and made sure her first customers were taken care of, but she paused to listen to the woman. "So we've got a handful of creatures not far from here, but did any of you get something smaller on the food chain? Spirits? Poltergeists?" The remaining hunters all shook their heads. "What about anything bigger? Demons? Angels?" Again they shook their heads. "So what is drawing all of these creatures here?"

"Do you think it could have anything to do with you rebuilding here?" Jerry spoke up, looking over the top of his beer bottle. "Some sort of plot to wipe out the hunters that come here or something?" he suggested.

Ana shrugged, "There's no telling what's going on. At least the ones that have been around are taken care of thanks to you all. Maybe it was just a fluke and there won't be anymore."

Logan cocked an eyebrow at the bartender, "Do you really think that's going to happen?"

"No." She scoffed, "I've never been that lucky, but a girl can dream." she turned to grab the bottle of Jim Beam to refill Jackie's glass. "On a happier note any creature that comes here has a deathwish, I have this place so stoked on weapons that it just wouldn't be fair."

-A-

The next day most of the hunters that had been there the night before had left, including Jerry and Rick, the latter man had woken up that morning in pain, but feeling fine otherwise. The only two remaining were Jackie and Logan, both hunters claiming to be waiting on news of a hunt they could take on before leaving. Either way Ana didn't care, it was nice to have some company and she knew it wouldn't be long before both hunters were off on the next case.

The whole day was easy. The trio talked about cases they'd been on, people they'd met, odds they had beaten; most of Ana's stories were only half true. By the time night rolled around they were on their fourth round of pool and there was no sign that anyone else would be coming through the Roadhouse door that night. There were hunters all over the country, it wouldn't be long before someone else made their way through that door.


	64. Chapter 64

**This chapter was inspired by the song Rise and Fall by The Rigs.**

Two weeks had passed since Logan had left the Roadhouse to track down a lead on a Djinn, which he had finished just before finding hints of a Woman in White the next state over. Once both cases were wrapped up and he had nothing else on his radar, he'd headed back toward Nebraska. He normally didn't mind being constantly out on the road, but at the moment all he wanted to do was see a familiar face and get blatantly drunk. In the short time he'd known Ana he had grown to like her, even consider her a friend, she had saved his ass more than once when he needed help looking for a hunt or giving pointers when he was lost. Pulling into the small parking area, Logan glanced around at the few vehicles that were already there, it seemed that business was finally picking up. Jumping out of the cab of his old truck, he slammed the door shut before making his way closer to the door, his eyes scanning the inside through the windows. When he saw Ana standing behind the bar with a smile on her face he grinned slightly, that girl's happiness was infectious, which was one of the reasons why hunters came back to the place. It wasn't often you came across someone who knew about all the crazy crap in the world and could still smile like a kid at Disneyland.

The bar wasn't too busy, looked like there were only about ten people, but he wasn't going to count. The hazel eyes that met his once the sound of the bell above the door filled the room pulled his attention elsewhere. Moving toward the bar, he took a seat and waited for Ana to make her way around to him. He watched as she served a couple of drinks to two men sitting on the other end of the bar before she walked over to the tall fridge near the cash register, grabbed his preferred beer, and came walking toward him. "Aww, you remember my order." he teased as she set the bottle down in front of him.

Ana scoffed, "Well it wasn't hard to remember what with how much time you spent here drinking it." she retorted. Things had been picking up slowly since Logan had been there last, this wasn't the busiest she had been, but there had only been one night where she hadn't had any customers. Thankfully the hunters that had come in looking for a place to regroup before taking off on their next hunt seemed to approve and because of that word was spreading faster.

"Valid point." he agreed after taking a long drink from the bottle. The drive had been a long one, probably too long to warrant it being worth the gas and time, but Logan didn't care. Something about being back at the Roadhouse felt like home, even if Ellen and Jo were gone and it wasn't exactly the same. Then there was the new owner, she had caught his attention to say the least and not just in the way he was sure she caught most men's attention. She was beautiful, dark coloring of her eyes and hair making her fair skin seem a little lighter and though she didn't act like it, she was lethal. Logan hadn't seen it for himself, but when she wore shorts or tank tops it was easy to see the toned muscle that was associated with being good at the job. Underneath all of that though, he could tell that there was something else, something she kept hidden under lock and key, and he wanted to know what it was.

"You're normal room is open if you plan on sticking around. I'll be closing down in a bit, need anything else before I go check on the others?" She asked, knowing that sometimes he'd get something harder to go along with his beer.

He shook his head, "I'm good for now, thanks Ana."

With a quick nod and a smile, she turned from him and moved toward the group of three hunters that were sitting around a table near the center of the room. It wasn't often she got lone hunters in here that would group together and chat like these three were, but there was a first time for everything. "How are you doing, fellas?" she questioned, taking a look at their drinks to see if they were in need of refills.

"I think we're calling it quits for the night, miss." One of the men spoke up, all three seemed to be rather old for being working hunters. Or at least she assumed they were. John, Bobby, and Rufus were the only men she had seen reach over forty-five and still actively hunt or even be left alive after years on the job. Though they were each now dead, they had made it a lot longer than most hunters did.

"Say, can we ask you a couple of questions?" One of the other men asked, giving her a slightly tense look.

Ana nodded as she pulled out the fourth chair at the table and took a seat on it, "What can I help you with?" she raised an eyebrow. It wasn't unknown that she had been a hunter before she'd opened the bar back up so it was often that she got stopped and asked things by the patrons. Sometimes it was things to test her, the hunters wanting to make sure she was the real deal and knew what she was talking about. Other times it was when a hunter was truly lost on a case and needed a fresh set of eyes to look the evidence over.

"You hear a lot more than we do with these other hunters in and out of here. We've been noticing demonic omens picking up everywhere. Widespread and heavy hitting stuff." The same man spoke, his hand pushing through the thick, black scruff that lined his face as he spoke. "We were wondering if you'd heard anything about what's going on. We've been sitting here trying to come up with ideas, but we've got nothing."

The first man that had spoke to her scoffed, "We have something, but you just won't listen." He leaned forward in his chair, eyes setting on Ana as if the next thing he was going to say would be the most important words to come out of his mouth. "I've been telling these two that this is all really similar to what happened a few years back with those Winchester boys. It's apocalyptic signs."

Ana's breath caught in her throat, if these signs were as bad as these men were saying they were, if they were so similar to what happened when Lucifer was released the first time she could only assume that it all meant one thing. "I have noticed the pick up of demonic activity, but my reach isn't that wide, I've only been getting information on the stuff near here. I can sure look into it for you guys, but if it's another apocalypse it wouldn't surprise me if the Winchesters knew something. Someone may need to give them a call." she offered with a soft smile, before standing up slowly, forcing herself to stay controlled. "If you'll excuse me I need to check on the rest of the customers." Giving the room one last walk through, she made her way back toward the bar where Logan sat. "Can you watch everything? I need to go check on something upstairs." He had helped her out around the place before and she trusted him to keep an eye on things while she went to check out the demon omens she had just learned of.

"Yeah, of course." Logan had watched her talk to the men at the table and noticed when something they said made her noticeably pale. Waiting until she was clear of the room, he stood up with his beer in hand and walked over to the men. "Sorry to intrude, but I was just wondering if you could fill me in on what you asked Ana?"

"The young gal?" One of the men asked him, waiting for a nod before continuing, "We were hoping she'd heard something more on the onslaught of demon omens."

Logan's brow furrowed, demons were scary bastards that was certain, but she seemed more afraid of something bigger than some demons. "Thank you." he told them before moving back toward the bar and giving the clock a glance, it was a little earlier than it normally was when they gave last call, but he needed to go check on Ana and the sooner he got these people either out of here or to one of the rooms in back the sooner he could do that.

* * *

Once upstairs, Ana grabbed her laptop and set it on the small kitchen table. It didn't take her long to find the information on the omens the men had been talking about, the only reason she hadn't noticed them before was because she prefered to get most of her information from the hunters that came in or on the local news. This was bad, though, these were big signs of something evil and her only thoughts were of Lucifer and Michael. "Shit shit shit!" She swore, this was not good. Trying to think her way through it, she stood up and began to pace, "It's just omens, no mass death yet. Which means that they're still in the cage and that there's still time, but if I even went back could we stop it? Maybe if Gadreel was dead, maybe that would end it, but then again maybe not, he has enough followers that someone could finish whatever plan and then we're fucked."

Logan had walked into Ana's apartment, she had left the door wide open and he could tell that she was worked up about something when she stood and began to talk to herself. She was talking fast and a lot of it was mumbled, but he picked up on most of it. "Woah, slow down. Who's in what cage? And who is Gadreel? What are you trying to stop, Ana?"

Spinning around quickly, Ana stared at Logan wide eyed, she really needed to pay better attention to her surroundings. "What?" she questioned, as if she had no idea what he was talking about when she had clearly heard the words come out of his mouth. "Aren't you supposed to be watching the bar?"

Logan rolled his eyes, "I made last call a little early. It wasn't like you had many customers and they all left." he shrugged.

"It's pretty late. They _all_ left? No one took a room?" She questioned, though she was positive that no one had been drunk when she left, it still seemed weird that everyone would leave like that this late in the night.

"Yeah, it sounded like they all had hunts to start up on. They were just passing through." He told her, knowing that each of the hunters that had been there knew well enough that they were welcome to stay if they wanted to. "Now will you tell me what you're wound up so tight over?"

Ana shook her head, "Nothing you need to worry about. I should go clean up the bar." she muttered, pushing passed him and making her way down the stairs in a hurry. Standing in the empty room, she glanced around it before moving toward the kitchen to grab a large container that she could use to collect the empty glasses and beer bottles.

Logan had waited a moment before following her, wondering if she really thought that he would just let it drop. Just as he stepped off of the last stair, Ana walked back into the room and began to clear off the few tables that had been used. "You said we were fucked. I'm assuming that _we_ encompassed most of the world." he moved over to her and stepped in her way before she could move on to the next table. "You know something, Ana, what's going on?"

She tried to move around him, but he quickly stepped in her way again. "Look, I don't know for sure, alright? There are other possibilities and things I need to check out before anyone needs to go freaking out about what's happening."

"But you're freaking out about what's happening. Just tell me." Logan grabbed the container out of her hands and set it on the nearest table. "Ana, you're shaking. Whatever you think is going on is obviously scaring the crap out of you, so just tell me."

With a sigh, she rubbed her eyes with her fingertips, glad that she hadn't worn much makeup that day. "One condition." she told him, turning her head to look out the window into the dark night. A storm was moving in, lightening already lighting up part of the sky. "Call Garth and ask him about the omens first, then I'll explain what I think is going on."

Logan frowned at her, "Why can't you call, Garth?"

"Just do it, Logan." Ana snapped, moving her eyes away from the window to glance at him before picking the container back up and moving to clear off the other two tables that had been used.

Logan watched as she moved toward the bar to clear off the used glasses on their, considering his option. He could continue to argue with her to get his answers or he could do as she asked, call Garth and get some answers about the omens that had been escalating. Grumbling, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Garth's number.

"Put him on speaker." Ana told him, once she saw that he was actually going to do it. She finished clearing off the bar and then set the container to the side, waiting for Logan to do as she asked.

He walked over to the bar, his phone to his ear until it began to ring and then he placed it on speaker. Stopping on the opposite side of the bar of Ana, he placed the phone on the surrface between them as it continued to ring. "Logan." Garth's voice filtered through the speaker, "How was the Woman in White?"

Logan sighed, "A bitch to take down, but most of 'em are that way." he glanced up at Ana, "I was wondering if you had any idea of what was going on with the demon omens." There was a pause on the line, he and Ana both stared at the device.

"I don't know much, just that they're picking up in pace and that they're a little worse than the normal omens." Garth finally answered.

Logan answered his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Ana. "Don't lie, Garth. These omens aren't just _a little worse_ , they're freaking bad. Now tell me what you know."

"Ana?" Garth's voice was filled with shock and the tone made Logan glanced up at the girl in front of him in question, "Anastasia Winchester, do you have any damn idea how worried we've all been looking for you?!" he yelled, knowing very well who the voice on the other side of the phone call belonged to.

"Winchester?" Logan almost spat the word, his eyebrows knitting together as he tried to figure out what was going on.

She sighed, "This is not the time for a lecture, Garth. I need to know, how close are they to opening the cage?"

"How close?! You've been gone for close to three months! How damn close do you think they are?!" Garth snapped, "Your dad, Sam, and Charlie have been trying to keep track of things, but they haven't been able to get a solid lead on Gadreel or Jade."

Ana swore under her breath, this was worse than she thought. "What about Gabe and Cas? They haven't been able to find anything either?"

"Nothing. Which isn't surprising since everyone's focus is split between trying to keep track of what's going on with the Devil and trying to find you." Garth paused, "I'm going to call and tell them where you are, you know that, right?"

"Don't bother." She told him, glancing up to see Logan glaring at her with a frown, "I'm going to call him myself once we're finished."

Garth sighed in relief, not wanting to deal with the wrath of an angry Dean Winchester once he was given the information on his daughter. "Good, then we're done. Call him, Ana." With those words the call was ended.

Ana reached for Logan's phone, intending on using it to call her father, but it was snatched off of the bar before she got the chance. "You lied to me!" he claimed, "You're Ana Winchester!" he looked her over, wondering where her red hair and green eyes went to. Hair dye was easy enough to come by, but it seemed like a lot of trouble to go through with wearing colored contacts.

"Yes, I lied to you, and I'm probably not the first hunter that has." She raised an eyebrow at him, "I promise I'll explain everything once I call my dad, which I can do with your phone or the landline." she pointed out, wondering if he planned to keep her locked in the conversation by forbidding her to use his phone.

Logan handed over his cell phone, still glaring at her, "Put it on speaker." he repeated her words, not wanting anymore lies. If something big was going down, he wouldn't be left out of any information.

Nodding, Ana dialed her father's number from memory and set it back down on the bar. She clasped her hands together, trying to keep them still as she waited for Dean to answer the phone, this was not going to be an easy phone call.

"Hello?" His deep voice carried over the line and Ana almost lost it then, she didn't realize how much she missed her father until just that moment.

"Dad?" Her voice wavered, she knew that he was going to be so mad at her for running off the way she did, for staying out of contact with any of them for months. "Dad, it's me."

There was a small pause, one that was sure to be broken with yelling any moment. "Ana? Where are you? Are you okay? What happened?" the words rolled off of his tongue with no control. An entire state away Dean sat frozen in his chair in the library, eyes staring wide at Sam who sat across from him. It had been months and Dean had been beginning to wonder if they would ever hear from her again and now here she was, calling him sounding scared out of her mind at an ungodly hour of the early morning. The only reason he and Sam were still awake was because they were trying to follow up on a small lead they had on Gadreel.

"I'm fine, dad. I'm at the Roadhouse." Ana paused, wanting to tell him everything that happened while she was gone, but knowing that this wasn't the time for that. "These omens… How bad is it?"

"Put her on speaker." Sam told his brother, listening as Ana asked about the omens. God, it was good to hear her voice. "It's bad, Ana. We haven't been able to keep a solid lead on Gadreel for weeks, they're closer than we hoped they would ever get."

Ana sucked in a deep breath as she listened to her uncle's words, "Of course they are, which means we have little time to prepare for this fight. Where's Connor?"

"Does anyone want to explain to me what exactly is going on?" Logan asked, not being able to keep it in any longer. There was so much talking and he had no idea what the context of it was so none of it made sense.

Dean and Sam shared a look, both at Ana's question and the strange male voice. "Who the hell are you?" Dean snapped, wanting to know who was with his daughter.

"Logan, I told you I would explain once we were off of the phone." Ana shot him a look, the last thing she needed was for there to be some misunderstanding about the random guy she was with. "Logan's a friend dad, a hunter. He was my first customer when I opened up the Roadhouse."

The Winchester brother's looked at each other in shock, they had heard about the Roadhouse being back open, but neither thought that it was Ana's doing. " _You_ reopened the Roadhouse?" Sam questioned, wondering where she came up with the money for that, though it did explain where she'd been.

"Yes, I reopened the Roadhouse." Ana sighed, "Can we please focus? If they're this close to releasing Michael and Lucifer, Connor and I need to be together so we can work on a plan. Where is he?"

"I don't know, he's your _soulmate_ shouldn't you know where he is?" Dean pointed out, frowning at his phone.

"Soulmate?!" Logan looked up at Ana as if she had just grown a horn out of the center of her forehead.

Ana rolled her eyes, "Yes, I have a soulmate, also something we can talk about later. Sam, where is Connor?" she directed the question at her uncle, knowing that he wouldn't play any dumb games with her like Dean was.

Sam glanced at his brother, before looking back toward the phone, "He left about two months ago to go live with the Council. He was in a really bad place after you left."

Closing her eyes, she sighed. Of course Connor had been in a bad place after she left, they had just lost their child, none of them were in a good place. "Okay, I'll find him. We need to get together to figure out a plan, so you guys better get on your way here."

"And why can't you just teleport your ungrateful ass back here?" Dean snapped, now that he knew she was safe he was royally pissed off.

"Because I have a business to run, hunters to give information to, and if the world is going to go ass up there needs to be some place where we can all come together. I'm assuming you don't want every hunter in North America to know where the bunker is at, so this is the next best pla-" Ana paused mid-rant, something at the edge of her senses was tingling and she knew something was off.

"Ana?" Logan questioned, noticing the sudden change.

Ignoring the man in front of her, she released all of her magic from where she had been keeping it hidden inside of her, forcing it to expand and survey the building and the surrounding area. It was an odd feeling, relearning to control her powers since it had been so long since she had used them other than her glamour.

"Ana?" Dean's voice carried over the line filled with worry, "Ana, what is it?" When she still didn't answer, he began to direct his questions to the hunter who was with her. "Hey! What's wrong with my daughter?"

Logan looked back down to the phone, "I don't know, it's like she all of the sudden zoned out." he explained, wondering where her focus had gone.

"Ana!" Dean snapped, worried that she was having a vision.

"Demons." The word was a whisper out of her mouth, "Dad!" she almost yelled as the room was suddenly filled with bodies that hadn't been there moments before. This is what she had felt, this large gathering of demons headed her direction. They not only surrounded the inside, but she could sense them circling the outside as well, apparently they didn't want anyone to escape.

"Ana?!" Dean yelled, not noticing that their connection had been cut until there was no answer. "Ana!" he called again, knowing it was useless. "We need to go." he told Sam, standing up quickly.

"I'll call Cas and Gabe, you go wake up Charlie." Sam instructed, already sending up prayers to both angels. They had finally found Ana and now it seemed that she was in trouble.

* * *

Before Ana could react she was being thrown across the room, where she crashed into a wall. She expected to slide toward the floor, but there was a force holding her against the wooden surface. Her eyes scanned the room, looking for the one demon she was sure would be among the rest and there Jade stood in the middle of the room with a wicked grin on her face as she slowly spun to look at Ana. "I've been waiting for this for a while, but I honestly never thought it would be this easy."

Ana glared at the blonde demon, preparing herself to use her magic after months of ignoring its presence. "How did you even get in here? I have this place warded like it's freaking paranormal Fort Knox." she glanced across the room to see that Logan was being held against the bartop by a demon, there was a thin line of blood running down his forehead.

"There are always people willing to do things for the right price, Ana dear, and just imagine that amount of rogue witches I have at my beck and call. All willing to do anything to further our plans for you, to rise our master. Turns out that when you completely ignore the power you've been given that you don't notice other witches as well." Jade bragged over the success of her plan, watching as one of the many demons she had under her orders walked over to the witch and placed iron cuffs around her wrists. With a nod, the demon that held Ana against the wall dropped his hold on her and the witch slid to the ground, landing on her back. "Looks like things are about to get pretty rough for you and your friend over there." She turned her head slightly to look at the male hunter who was being held down by another of her soldiers.

"Well, I guess I should ask now before I die." Ana began, pushing herself into a sitting position with a wince, that fall hadn't been a gentle one. "How many times do I have to prove that coming up against me is a dumb decision?" the question rolled off of her lips just before she slammed her shoulder against the wall, thankful that the demon had pressed her up next to an old painting she had hid an angel blade behind. The demon closest to her lunged, but Ana plunged the blade into her chest before she could do anything. "Also, did you think I wouldn't stock this place up with weapons? I mean, really, what'd you think I did for the month this place was being built?" Once the light was done burning up the demon in front of her, Ana pulled the blade out and stood up. Twirling the weapon in her hand, she grinned at Jade, "I'm done letting you live. Let's finish this."

At her words everything began to move at once. Ana caught a glimpse of Logan fighting back against the demon who was holding him down, but before she could see if he succeeded in getting completely free she was surrounded by demons. This wasn't her first bought with being outnumbered, but it was the first where she had no use of any of her powers. If she and Logan were both going to get out of this alive she would need to get rid of the iron cuffs. With the angel blade held tightly in her hand, she slashed at the demons that were surrounding her with it, sure that this was all about to go downhill when the sound of fluttering wings filled the room.

"Ana!" Dean called from across the room. He, Sam, and Charlie had grabbed their weapons and once Cas and Gabe were there they flew to the Roadhouse.

Looking over at the sound of her father's voice, she missed a punch that was sent toward her abdomen and she swore as the fist connected with her ribs. The sound of gunfire surrounded her, the demons slowly becoming frozen to their spots. Ana straightened up and glanced around, noticing that both Dean and Logan had pistols aimed at the demons that were surrounding her. Looking to the other four people in the room, she smiled slightly as both angels along with Sam and Charlie were already taking care of the demons they could. "Gabe!" Ana called, shoving her arms in the air to show him her wrists. The angel grinned from across the room and with a snap of his fingers the cuffs with gone, "That is so much better." With a wicked grin she shoved all of the demons that were closest to her on the ground with her power, ignoring the wide eyed look Logan was sending her way. Scanning the room, she noticed Jade about halfway across the room, keeping herself out of the immediate fray of battle. Their eyes locked before Ana quickly teleported next to the demon, angel blade driving toward Jade's chest.

Jade blocked the blade with the swipe of her arm, twisting Ana's quickly before bringing her in and slamming her knee into the witch's sternum. Ana lashed out with her power, shoving Jade back as she straightened up painfully, trying to regain the breath that had been knocked out of her body. The demon began to use her power against Ana's, pushing against it to once again get near the witch, but Ana was strong and she pushed harder, focusing her power to lift the demon off of the ground. "Go ahead and kill me, witch. It won't stop Gadreel from raising Michael or Lucifer."

Ana scoffed, glancing down at the angel blade in her hand before looking back up at the demon, "Killing you is just going to have to be enough for tonight." she spoke before throwing the blade, using her magic to sink it into Jade's chest. Watching as the grace within the blade burned up the demon, Ana waited for it to stop before dropping the dead body to the ground. Looking around there were still demons everywhere, her family quickly being overpowered by them. She was moving back into the fray when a familiar power filled the room, catching her off guard, and causing her to lose focus as she looked around. "Connor!" she called, once her eyes landed on him, this would all be so much easier now that he was here. Teleporting over to him Ana looked up into his eyes, noticing how rough he looked, part of her wondered if this would even work. If he was too weak any spell they tried that required a lot from each of them wouldn't be as effective.

Connor gave Ana a long look, wondering why in the world her hair was brown and her eyes resembled Sam's rather than Dean's. With a shake of his head, he told himself he could ask later, right now they needed to get rid of these demons. Offering her his hand, he sucked in a deep breath, this was not going to be easy on his part.

Quickly grabbing his hand with her own, she gave him a soft smile before both of their powers joined in a way they had only a few times before and then escaped out of them in a flash of bright light. It filled the entire room for seconds before it was suddenly gone, leaving those still standing blinking quickly to let their eyes adjust.

Logan was the first to react as he looked around at all of the dead bodies on the floor, "What in the hell was that?" he snapped, turning to look at Ana with wild eyes, not entirely sure if he should be aiming his weapon at the woman he thought he could semi-trust and the man she stood with.

Ana was about to answer when Connor suddenly let go of her hand and scowled down at her, "How is he?" he asked, assuming with the way that the other man was looking at Ana that they had known each other for a while.

Again trying to open her mouth to speak, she was cut off by the sound of her father's voice filling the room. "Anastasia Marie! You have about five seconds to explain to me what the hell you were thinking!"

The young witch groaned, eyes slowly moving from Connor, Logan, Dean, and then to Gabriel who looked like he was waiting for an explanation as well. It was going to be a long night.

 **A/N: The gang is back together again! Not the best circumstances, but there really aren't any good ones with the way Ana left. That fight scene was a little shorter than I originally planned, but I think the following craziness of Ana trying to explain everything to everyone is going to be much more entertaining. Let me know what you guys think!**

 **Thank you JediCat1965, Happygoddess2003, and elaearien for the reviews. ROADHOUSE! I'm so glad that you're as excited about it as I am. I'd love to know what you think about this chapter! :)**

 **As always, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter :)**

 **Thanks for reading.**


	65. Chapter 65

**A/N: Guys! The family is back together and let me tell you I am so glad, because keeping them apart was harder for me to write than I originally thought it would be. It had to happen though! Who's ready for some Winchester family drama? It's going to be good ;)**

 **eldaearien: Yes, they're back together and I'm super thankful that they are! Surprisingly Logan wasn't supposed to play a big role in this, but the more I write him the more I see him sticking around. We'll see what happens ;) Thank you for the review!**

 **JediCat1965: It would be a wise move on Ana's part, but when Dean's mad about something there's not much you can do to distract him. ;) Get ready for some failed distraction attempts.**

 **Awerry: YAY! Indeed they are and it is so exciting!**

Ana looked at the men who were standing all around the room. Logan was still behind the bar, the hand holding his pistol was twitching at his side as if he wasn't sure if he was going to use it or not. Connor's blue eyes were focused on Logan and if looks could kill the poor hunter would be dead before he even knew what was going on. Sam was probably the least hostile looking of the men and she was grateful for that, he seemed to be more contemplating the change of her appearance if the confused look in his eyes was anything to go by. As she turned to look at the last two men, she was filled with an emotion that she never thought either man would cause her to feel. There were many things in the world for Ana to fear in that moment, but the two things that she feared the most were the archangel and the hunter who were staring her down with set jaws and steel gazes. "I need a drink." She stated, her attention moving from everyone else to the array of liquor behind the bar as she made her way there. Logan stared at her the entire time, watching her carefully as she grabbed a bottle of whiskey and then turned to him. "Either move or grab me a glass, Logan."

The young hunter gave her a long look, still on edge about everything that had just happened. Thinking about the past few weeks that he had known Ana he came to the conclusion that if she was dangerous, that she would have done something to him by now. Slowly setting his pistol down on top of the bar, he grabbed a glass in each hand and set them down on the countertop, "Better pour me one too."

Dean stormed over to the bar, stopping when he was across from his daughter. "Start talking. Now." he demanded, grabbing both glasses between them and pushing them aside.

Raising an eyebrow at her father, Ana pulled the spout out of the bottle and took a long drag from it, the burn it caused down her throat reminded her of the last time she touched that specific type of alcohol. She held the bottle out for the hunter next to her, eyes still focused on her father as he took it. "Dad, this is Logan. Logan, meet Dean and Sam Winchester, the archangel Gabriel, and Connor Mohr."

Logan had just taken a drink from the bottle when she introduced Gabriel and he began to choke on the liquid, coughing it up as he turned to look at the two men across the room that were heading their way. "Archangel?" he questioned, eyes wide. Of course he had heard about the angels on earth, but he never thought he'd meet one.

"We will talk about _him_ later." Dean pointed at Logan, giving the blonde hunter a hard look before focusing back on Ana. "What the hell did you do to your eyes?" he finally asked, not seeing his own color staring back at him was unnerving.

"And your hair?" Sam chimed in as he stood at his brother's side. It was so weird looking at her without the vibrant red hair and green eyes.

Connor hadn't moved from where he stood across the room, his eyes still focused on the hunter behind the bar. "It's a glamour. Which you can drop now since you're not trying to hide your identity." the words were snapped. Ana rolled her eyes and let the magic go, her coloring going back to what it naturally was which helped Connor to relax a little.

"What the hell are you?!" Logan jumped back, hand shooting out for his pistol but before he could grasp it the weapon was suddenly gone.

"If you even consider pointing a weapon in her direction you are going to have four very angry and deadly men on your ass." Connor snarled, holding the pistol up in his hand.

Ana sighed, this was all getting out of hand. With a wave of her hand the pistol was back on the bar where it had been moments before, "I'm a witch." she told Logan as she turned to face him, she wanted to be able to judge his reaction just in case he reached for his pistol again. "A _good_ witch. No demon deal was made, I was born as one."

His eyes went wide, "A witch?" he looked back and forth between Ana and the Winchester men that were across the bar from them. "A good witch?" he aimed the question at the hunters. If she were evil they would have stopped her by now, right? The Winchesters were pretty notorious for kicking evil's ass, but what if it was one of their own? What if Ana _was_ evil and they hadn't had the guts to put her down because she was family?

"Yes, she's a witch. No, she is not going to hurt you- well, not unless you decide to attack her, then she might. Now, let's get back to what the hell you were thinking Anastasia!" Dean slammed his fist down on the bartop.

"Can we not do this now?" Ana asked as she reached for the bottle of whiskey still in Logan's hand. She was exhausted, sore from an unexpected battle, and she really didn't want to have this conversation around Logan.

Dean raised an eyebrow at her, eyes full of hurt and anger, "It's been three months. THREE MONTHS! You left without saying a damn thing, completely blocked every form we had of tracking you, and it was all for what? To play freaking bar maid!"

An anger filled Ana, one that had been buried under grief, pain, and depression for so long that it had built up to a feeling she wasn't familiar with. "Is that what this looks like to you?" her voice was eerily calm, quiet even. Setting the bottle aside, she placed both hands on the bar and closed her eyes while taking a deep breath in. "I've saved at least one life since I've opened this place. I've helped hunters with cases that they didn't have the information on, helped keep them alive and the other possible victims of the monsters they were chasing. I've made this place a safe haven for any hunter in need and you think all I've been doing is serving drinks?" She slowly lifted her eyes to meet her father's, "I left to grieve, dad. To do what I needed to get over the loss of _my daughter!"_ Her voice was slowly growing in volume as she touched on the painful subject that she tried to rarely think about. "The loss that I could have prevented! She was magically ripped from me and I couldn't do anything because I decided to go running into that fight alone! So, no, I haven't just been playing barmaid. I've been getting my shit together."

"Ana-" Connor began, all of her emotions were rushing through their bond toward him as if they were reaching for someone to find companionship in.

"Look, we can argue about how I was wrong to leave or whatever else later. Okay?" She met the eyes of each of the men across the bar from her, "We have bigger things to worry about right now. Like Michael and Lucifer being released from the cage. What information do you guys have?" Dropping her eyes down at the bar, she picked the bottle of whiskey back up and took another drink.

Sam glanced between his brother and his niece, waiting to see if Dean was going to continue yelling. When it seemed that the fight had been put on hold, he cleared his throat, "Basically, we have nothing. We don't know where they're planning on opening the cage or when or how. We've been researching for weeks and have come up with nothing."

Ana turned her eyes to Gabriel, "No news in Heaven about when this is all going down?"

"Cas and I have turned over every stone we could think of, questioned every angel. Whatever they have planned is being kept really quiet." Gabriel answered as he took a seat on one of the stools.

"What about demons?" Ana looked around at the bodies still littering the floor, "Could you do something about that?" She asked Gabe, thankful when the angel snapped his fingers and the bodies were all gone. "Obviously Jade isn't going to be any help, but these weren't all of her followers that are working with Gadreel."

Dean scoffed, "We can't summon a demon we know nothing about." he stated, wondering if her time away from them had made her rusty.

"No shit, Sherlock." She snapped, her father's attitude making hers worse. "Have you tried calling Crowley? He _is_ the king of Hell and can pretty much do what he wants when it comes to demons." Dean and Sam glanced at each other, a clear message being sent between the two. "Give me a phone." She held out her hand, wishing in that moment that she still had her own to use.

"We are capable of making a phone call on our own." Dean told Ana as he pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket.

Reaching across the bar, she snatched the phone out of his hand and grinned at him as she unlocked the screen, quickly finding the number before hitting send. "Sure you are dad, but he likes me better." she glared at him as he mocked her across the bar, part of her attention focused on the ringing on the other end of the line.

"Squirrel." The British voice floated over the line causing Ana to wince slightly. She didn't necessarily like working with the demon, but it was better than fumbling for answers.

Placing the phone on speaker, Ana set the device down on the bar before answering. "Wrong Winchester, Crowley."

There was a pause before the demon spoke again, "Ah, Little Red, I'm assuming this isn't a casual phone call."

Her eyes lifted again to glare at the men across the bar, "Seriously, is that nickname ever going to die?"

Gabriel scoffed, a lollipop appearing in his hand, "Never. Charlie is pretty stuck on it, so of course, she's got the rest of us doing it too."

"But, Crowley? Really?" She wondered when the demon would have even heard the name being used.

"Yes. Last I spoke with Charlie, it was all 'mission' this and 'Red missing' that. Neither of you other schmucks were smart enough to call me, but Charlie had me on the look for our missing witch as well." Crowley explained, "Seems that you found her location about the time I was made aware of it."

Sam and Dean shared another look, communicating that neither of them had known Charlie turned to the King of Hell to help with the search for Ana. "Yeah, we're reunited and it feels so good." Dean spoke, tone implying the exact opposite. "We're moving our focus to finding Gadreel."

"Of course. End of the world demonic omens start to pop up and you all are going to run straight into the thick of it. I'm assuming you were hoping that I have a location for you."

"Either that you have it or you can get it for us." Ana spoke up, "Jade and a large portion of the demons that were working for her are dead, I know that there are at least two that weren't here so they're still working with Gadreel. If you don't have a location I have a firm belief that you can get one for us from one of them."

Crowley scoffed, "You call and I'm just supposed to do as you ask? You do realize that you called the King of Hell, darling, not some whimpering, low level demon who runs at the mention of a Winchester?"

Ana rolled her eyes, "You obviously don't have any ego issues." she muttered. "Yeah, Crowley, I know who I'm talking to and I know that like almost every king in history the last thing you want is your throne taken from you. If you don't help us stop the rise of Michael and Lucifer that's exactly what's going to happen."

There was another pause, Ana looked up at her father, her point was solid and Crowley couldn't argue against it. "I'll get back to you before morning with an exact location." With that the call was disconnected from the other end.

"I'm sorry. Can we rewind this whole thing and someone explain to me how exactly you're on phone call terms with the King of Hell?" Logan's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head if he opened them any wider.

"Actually I think now is a good time for you to get going." Dean stood up, giving the young hunter a long look. "We've got this covered."

Ana chuckled, though it wasn't a happy sound, "First of all, I think the more hands we have on deck for this one the better. Secondly, this is my bar, dad, and I'm not kicking him out."

"Why does he even matter?" Dean questioned, his anger getting the best of him, "What'd you do? Leave us and start shaking up with the first hunter you came across?"

Silence filled the room once the words were out of his mouth and the look of rage that took over Ana's face was one that had never been aimed at her family. With a shove of her power, Dean was across the room and being held against the wall, much like a demon had done to her not an hour before. "How dare you." She snarled teleporting to the other side of the bar so she could walk toward him. "Just because I'm your daughter does not mean I hook up with the first attractive person I come across and to think that even looking at someone else like that when I have Connor is possible shows how little you know." She pushed Dean further up the wall, not noticing how red his face was becoming.

"Ana." Connor had moved to her side when she began to cut off Dean's oxygen. It had been so long since she had been in full control of her powers that her emotions were ruling what they did. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he waited until she looked at him before speaking again. "Ana, you're hurting him. Let him go. You don't want to hurt your dad."

Connor's calm words broke through her anger, forcing her to realize what exactly she was doing. Looking back to Dean, she sucked in a quick breath in shock, she hadn't meant for it to go that far. Lowering him to the floor, she pulled her power away as tears filled her eyes, "I'm sorry." The words were barely above a whisper and before anyone could respond she teleported out of the room.

Dean coughed a couple of times as he took in deep breaths. Sam got up from his seat at the bar and moved over to his brother, making sure he was okay before smacking the back of his head. "Really, Dean?"

"What?!" The eldest Winchester snapped, sitting down in the nearest chair.

"You had to accuse her of that? You know damn well that she wouldn't do anything like that to Connor, so why'd you say it?" Sam snapped, wondering when their family life had become a soap opera.

Dean sighed, "I don't know man." he lied. He'd said it because he was pissed that she'd left, that she seemed to have replaced them with this place and the kid still standing behind the bar.

"Whatever." Sam shook his head and moved back toward Gabriel. "Mind checking the warding around the place? We'll stay here until we get the call back from Crowley." Gabriel disappeared from in front of him and Sam turned his attention to the hunter behind the bar. "I'm not kicking you out, but it would probably be best if you let us deal with this alone for a while."

Logan nodded, looking between the three remaining people in the room. "Are any of you going to go check on her?"

The three men each glanced at one another before looking back to the stranger who still stood behind the bar. "How long have you known Ana?" Sam asked, knowing from the question that it couldn't have been long.

"A few weeks. What's that have to do with anything? She's upset, someone should go talk to her." Logan waited for one of them to move, to agree that someone should talk to her because though he hadn't known her long he knew well enough when something was wrong with her.

"You go right ahead and do that." Dean spoke, "And when she attacks you like she did me, don't come crying to us." he leaned back in his chair and placed a hand to his forehead, he could feel the beginnings of a raging headache coming on. He knew that Ana hadn't meant to hurt him, she just dealt with her emotions exactly like he did, which meant not dealing with them at all.

Logan shook his head, "Whatever." he muttered, moving toward the hallway. He couldn't believe that none of her family was willing to go and talk to her, she was obviously hurt and not even her own soulmate would step up to check on her. Reaching the stairs the young hunter paused a moment before taking them two at a time, he knocked lightly on the door at the top, knowing that it was a dumb decision to just barge in. "Ana?"

"Go away Logan." Her voice was muffled by the door.

"I'm not going away until you talk to me." He leaned against the door, waiting for her to come and open it for him or for her to tell him to go away again. "We could start with you lying to me for the past few weeks or just jump to the whole attacking your father thing. Somewhere along the lines I'd like to touch on the fact that you're a witch, since I'm not entirely sure if I'm supposed to want to kill you or not." Logan rambled and planned to continue to do so until she let him in.

Ana groaned as she opened the door, "You do realize that I could get rid of you, right? I'm a witch, I can move you halfway around the world if I wanted." she pointed out, wondering what kind of idiot, who knew she was a witch, would come and annoy her after what just happened downstairs.

"I know, but you won't." He gave her a half shrug,"The way I see it is I'm a neutral party. I don't know you're family, I obviously don't know you as well as I thought I did, so you can tell me what's going through that stubborn head of yours and I won't feel obligated to sugarcoat anything for you."

Ana moved out of the way to let him in, closing the door behind him and watching him sit down on her couch. "Way to make me feel like a bitch."

With a raised eyebrow, he pointed a finger at her, "Hey, I'm just telling the truth."

"You're never going to get past this lying thing, are you?" She moved over to sit on the couch with him. Placing her back against the armrest so that she was facing him, she pulled one knee up toward her chest and wrapped her arms around it. "You understand why I did it, though, right?"

He sighed, "Yeah, I get why you did it, but that doesn't mean I like it at all. I never lied to you about anything, even being a hunter, when I decide someone is my friend I don't lie to them." Studying her carefully he could tell that she didn't like what he was saying, but that she was also focused somewhere else. "Seems like everything is out on the table now though, so why don't we skip the small talk and go straight for the deep and emotional."

"Deep and emotional?" She questioned with a frown, "Did you seriously just say that?"

"Yes, I did. Now stop avoiding talking about it and tell me what's going on in your head." He paused, watching the look in her eyes become hard. "Now, now, don't you do that. You're only going to make yourself more upset and hurt someone else that you don't want to. Why don't we start with something easy, tell me about Connor."

Ana let out a long sigh, her eyes moving across the room as her thoughts wandered to her soulmate. "What's there to say? He's amazing, he always has been. We met when my family found out I was a witch and that I needed to be trained, there was always something there between us and we both knew it. We had already started dating before we found out we were soulmates, but even with that information nothing changed."

"So why'd you skip out on him?" Logan had never been the type to go about things in a smooth manner, he didn't want to hurt her intentionally, but he wouldn't cut corners to make her feel better.

"I was pregnant." She spoke the words as her eyes began to water, "We went into a fight with a group of rogue witches who were working with the angel Gadreel to raise Michael and Lucifer from the cage. There was a group of us and together we were strong. _I was_ strong, but I wasn't watching my back while I was fighting off two witches and before I knew what was happening a third moved behind me. They held me down with their power while using a spell to… rip my daughter from my body." The tears began to slip down her face and she wiped at them with the back of her hand. "We lost good witches that day, I probably could have helped keep them alive if I hadn't decided to run into my own fight head on. I probably could have kept my daughter alive and then they wouldn't blame me for losing her."

Logan's eyes went wide as he listened to her talk. There was nothing he could say to make her feel better about something like that, nothing anyone could say. Reaching over, he wrapped his hand around hers and gave it a gentle squeeze, "I highly doubt that any of them blame you for what happened, Ana." his words were soft.

"Well they should, because I do. My stupid decision is what ended my daughter's life before it even started. That's why I left. Even if they don't blame me, I blame myself enough for all of them." She paused, looking back at him. "I couldn't be around any of them if I was going to find a way to get through my grief."

"Did you find your way through it?" He asked, genuinely curious to see if she was finally moving past the horrible incident or if she was just really good at hiding it.

Looking away from him again, she shook her head slightly, "I don't think I ever will."

* * *

They watched the hunter leave the room before turning to one another. Dean tipped his head back and closed his eyes, knowing that he was going to have to do something about his headache if he wanted to get any sleep before the sun came up. "Okay, so what the hell is up with those two? It's not just me, right?" he questioned, opening his eyes just enough to squint at Sam and Connor.

Sam crossed his arms over his chest as he glared at his brother, "I can't believe you said that to her. One, because you know as well as I do that she would never do anything like that to Connor and two, you're only doing it because you're angry at her for leaving."

"Also, I don't think either of you noticed, but I'm pretty sure he swings the opposite way." Connor offered, moving to sit down across the table from Dean. "He kept checking Sam out while you and Ana were yelling."

"What?!" Both brother's asked, Dean with a hint of laughter and Sam with a tone filled with shock.

Connor shook his head, "You know for hunters, you two can be totally oblivious sometimes." he commented before sinking down slightly in his chair.

Dean lifted his head fully so that he was looking at the witch across the table from him, "You've sure gotten sassy since we saw you last." he pointed out, part of him glad to see that the kid was still alive. He hadn't told anyone, but he'd almost been as worried about Connor once he left as he had been about Ana suddenly disappearing. It was true that the male witch was just as much a part of their family as any of the rest of them.

When Connor didn't respond, Sam spoke up deciding that they needed at least some semblance of a plan before morning came and Crowley came with a location for them. "So what's going to be our plan once we know where Gadreel plans on raising Lucifer and Michael?"

"I honestly don't know. This isn't our fight, not really at least." Dean answered, eyes studying Connor, wondering if he was going to be up for the upcoming battle. "Stop it if we can obviously, but if those winged douchebags get out of the cage, then it's up to Ana and Connor to stop them."

Slowly lifting an eyebrow, something sparked in Connor's eyes at Dean's words. He and Ana would have to battle the two strongest archangels if things came to the worst, which with it being them it most likely would. They would need a good plan, a good backup plan. There was no way they could allow either angel to roam free on the earth with the knowledge of what they would do. "We can't do it alone, you know that right? Sure Ana and I are supposed to take out the devil and the eldest archangel, but there are going to be angels and demons there working with them. We can't handle that all on our own."

"Ana said we would need all hands on deck." Sam said in agreement, looking to his older brother as he spoke. "Obviously we'll all be there, but we may need to get a little more help."

"What about the Council?" Dean asked, aiming the question at Connor. They had helped as best they could with the rogue witch problem, it would make sense that they would be willing to help them with this.

Connor sighed and shook his head, "There's been a lot going on, more so since I went back after Ana left." he paused, glancing back and forth between the Winchester men before deciding that he could tell them exactly what they had been dealing with. "Caoimhe, Niall, and I have been talking… We're almost one hundred percent certain that there's someone in the Council that has turned against us."

Sam's eyes went wide as he slowly sat down onto one of the chairs between the men already at the table, "You think you guys have a mole?" He was honestly shocked to hear that, the witches of the High Council had seemed so in sync when they had been planning their battle with the rogues, he couldn't imagine that one of them had turned against the rest.

"We have no idea who it is, but thinking back to everything that has happened it's pretty clear that someone has been telling someone working with the rogues what's been going on, what our plans are." He rubbed a hand over his face, he hated thinking about one of their own turning against them, but as they talked more about what had happened during the battle with the rogue witches the more it seemed that something was wrong. "Also that day when Ana had almost been drained of her power… It was the type of spell where there had to be some sort of physical contact. They'd need something of her's or be able to place something on her for it to work, the only people that had been around her prior to that were Council witches and us."

Dean's jaw tightened as he thought about what Connor was saying. "We figure out this Michael and Lucifer thing then we figure out which of your witches is working against you." The thought that the had trusted those people and now they were dealing with a possible treachery pissed him off. A witch that was supposed to be working for the good of the world had helped to put a spell on his daughter that could have killed her and that did not sit well with him. Though he was incredibly mad at her at that moment, he wouldn't stop until the witch that had hurt her was stripped of its powers.


	66. Chapter 66

**A/N: Alright guys, I'm so excited for this chapter that I'm going to keep this note short. Quick shout out to all of the new favorites and followers, welcome to my madness. I love you all so much and I'm so thankful that you are all enjoying my story. Any who, who's ready for some more canon characters? Let's just say things are about to get wayward af! ;)**

 **Awerry: They're going to find out, but it may be a while. There's still quite a bit that needs to happen before they do. It won't be a dull wait though, I can promise you that ;) Thanks for the review!**

 **Happygoddess2003: It's really hard for me to not insert some sort of humor in almost all of the chapters. I'm a very sarcastic person and by default that sarcasm comes through in my writing. Also, just having these great characters to work with makes all of the funny stuff a lot easier to write. I'm so glad you enjoy that :) Thank you so much for the review!**

 **Now onto the story!**

It was difficult standing in a room full of witches that were thought to be trusted and having no idea if that trust should still be placed within them. Caoimhe had firmly believed that she could place the entirety of her trust within the witches of the Council, but after much thought it seemed that there was at least one witch that shouldn't be. The elder Good woman knew without a doubt that Niall was not the possible problem, the two had grown up together and she knew him almost as well as she knew herself. Connor and Ana were both too easy to read, as were most of the younger witches, so there were few that she had no fear of. Fenrick would be helpful in trying to find a lead on who was turning against them and though she hated to admit it, she was weary of speaking to him about the issue in fear that he was either the source or part of it. The fact that he was a very powerful empath made it easy for him to deceive others. She would talk to Connor once he returned, until then she and Niall would have to continue on as if they hadn't noticed the deceit that was happening among them. Hopefully by the time that Connor came back he would have Ana with him. The young Mohr witch had not been the same since Ana had disappeared.

"Shall we start the meeting?" Tiberius asked as he sat down in the chair at her side. They had been waiting as the rest of the Council families filed in and took their seats so they could begin to speak about contingency plans. In case Ana and Connor failed in either keeping the archangels locked in their cage or killing them once they were risen, they would need a course of action to keep themselves protected.

Valera was moving toward the table from where she had been talking with Iona, pausing to speak to Caoimhe before she took her seat. "I still don't feel right about this. I understand that it's a wise decision to have a 'backup plan', but I feel as if by planning this we're expecting our young witch friends to fail."

Caoimhe sighed, she couldn't say that part of her didn't feel the same, that she thought by even talking about their failure that the energy of that was being pushed into the universe and would only end in the two witches failing, but they couldn't just expect that they would succeed and then be scrambling for an idea if Michael and Lucifer were set free upon the earth. "We need to be prepared, either way." she pointed out, standing to call the attention of the room to the chair members. This was the first official meeting they had since they had lost the three witches during the battle with the rogues and it was going to be difficult without Jacey, Kari, or Gavin sitting among the witches in front of them. "We've brought you here to prepare for the possible arising of the archangels Michael and Lucifer." she began, knowing that talking about something like this would take the majority of the day. As she continued to speak she sent a silent prayer up to any god or goddess listening that Connor and Ana would succeed in taking out the two angels.

* * *

Logan had stayed with Ana until she began to yawn. He sent her to bed before going back downstairs and going to his own room to get some sleep, which was all too short because before he knew it there was a knock at his door. "We got the call from Crowley. Ana wants you out in the bar." A voice came through the door, one that Logan thought belonged to Sam, but honestly he barely paid attention to anyone in the room last night other than Ana, Gabriel, and Connor. He was aware that both of the hunters that had showed up last night were extremely deadly, but he was more worried about the three people who were obviously not human. Grumbling, Logan pushed himself out of bed and over to the duffle bag he had in the corner of the room. Quickly changing his shirt and putting on the same jeans he wore last night, he brushed a hand through his hair as he left the room and made his way toward the bar.

Not even bothering to stop at the group that was gathered around the end of the bar Logan went straight into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee, thankful that Ana had still made a pot even with everything going on. Taking a drink he decided that the source of caffeine in his hand would have to be enough to get him through the day, he made his way back out to the bar. The first thing he noticed was that Dean and Sam both sat on the customer side of the bar while Ana was standing behind it, a map laid out between them. The second thing he noticed was the way that Connor stood at the end of the bar top, where there was a space between the counter and the wall for the workers to move through. It seemed that neither half of the couple were ready to act as if things were okay between them, which with everything Ana had told him last night things wouldn't be okay between them until they had a serious heart to heart about what happened to their daughter. "Hey, thanks for making coffee." Logan spoke as he passed Ana to stand just off to her side.

"Like I've ever started the coffee in the mornings for you." She said with a scoff and a soft smile, glad to see that their friendship hadn't seemed to change after everything that had happened last night.

Connor watched the interaction, part of him wondering if he should be worried like Dean, but logic and the connection between himself and Ana told him otherwise. He tried to push the jealousy down at the smile that _his_ soulmate had given another man that wasn't considered family. Before he could think much further a set of green eyes were glaring at him and pulling him out of his mind.

"Don't even start." Ana warned him, being able to feel the up and down of his emotions. First he was just angry and hurt, which was all that she had gotten from him since he had shown up mere hours ago, but the jealousy that popped up hadn't gone unnoticed by her. The sound of ruffling wings filled the almost silent bar, as Ana turned to look in the direction the sound had originated from a bright smile lit up her face. "Charlie!" Once the name was out of her mouth she was moving quickly around the bar to give her redheaded friend a hug.

Dean scoffed, "She didn't give us hugs when we showed up." he grumbled, turning his attention from the group of three that had just appeared to the map on the bartop.

"Maybe if you hadn't have been such an ass I would have." Ana retorted, turning from Charlie to Cas, ignoring Gabe as he glared at her. She gave Cas a quick, awkward hug before taking a step back. "These two didn't start yelling at me the first chance that got."

"Doesn't mean I'm not considering it." Charlie stated with a shrug as if it wasn't that big of a deal. "But I figure that you're getting enough of the angry rants out of Dean and Gabe, so I'm just going to tell you how extremely happy I am that you're okay and then I'll reprimand you later for not telling me anything."

Sam could feel the grumpiness radiating off of his brother and he knew that if he didn't change the subject soon there would be another yelling match between Dean and Ana. "Alright, well now that everyone is here we can start planning on what to do with the information Crowley has given us." After the adrenaline of the fight that had happened early in the morning had worn off, Sam could tell that Dean's rage was filtering away, he just hoped that it would be completely gone before they started whatever plan they concocted. The last thing they needed was Dean and Ana both too angry at one another to think straight enough during a fight.

"Which is what exactly?" Logan asked, moving to look at the map himself. He ignored Dean's glare as he glanced around until he found the spot that someone had marked with a red marker, but as he continued to look around at the map he noticed that there were four more markings other than the first one he spotted. "I thought he was going to be giving us 'an exact location'?" he questioned, repeating Crowley's words.

"He did." Sam answered, waiting to see if anyone else was going to step up and explain or if he was going to have to do all of the talking. Honestly, he'd rather not have to play catch up with those who had just gotten there and spend this time trying to think of anything that could help them.

Ana could see the gears working in both Sam and Dean's heads, though she knew that they were both considering different aspects of what lied ahead for them. "Crowley was able to get information out of one of the two demons who are closest to Gadreel. According to that demon they're going to be opening the five remaining Devil's Gates in North America, sending a group of demons into each who will then recite a spell they were given by a witch. Supposedly the spell is meant to weaken the cage enough that the mere power of the angels within it will destroy it. After that they're pretty much free, no one is going to be able to keep Michael or Lucifer in Hell."

"That sounds pleasant." Charlie chimed in, her tone just a higher above normal and filled with sarcasm. "So what can we do to stop them? There's not enough of us to cover each of the five gates."

Dean stood up from the stool he had been sitting on and turned to walk away from the bar. "We're going to need hunters, groups of them to be set at each location. We do our damnedest to keep the demons and angels from opening the gates." He explained, not exactly liking that they would have to work with other hunters. There were few he trusted that were still living and working against something like this with people you don't know could be dangerous.

"And if we can't keep them closed?" Logan asked, looking around the room at each person there. "What happens then? They raise Michael and Lucifer, what's plan B?"

"Us." Ana answered, moving toward where Connor stood. "The prophecy says that if they're freed Connor and I are supposed to be able to defeat them. So that's plan B. We have an angel who's fighting on our side at each gate and once there's a sign of either angel coming out of a gate they notify Gabe or Cas, who we will be with. The moment we know where they are we'll teleport and do everything we can to end them."

A silence fell over the room as everyone considered the two witches going up against both Michael and Lucifer on their own. There was much fear that they would not succeed. "So, we need more bodies. Hunters and angels?" Charlie asked, deciding to work on the plan of keeping the gates shut so she didn't feel the need to worry about Ana and Connor.

Sam nodded, "Yeah. Dean and I don't really know many hunters anymore." he paused, leaving out the part that most of the ones they had known were dead. "We could call Garth."

"Or you could give me a few minutes to make some phone calls." Ana scoffed, moving toward the phone that sat on the back wall of the bar by the cash register. She dialed a number from memory and listened as the phone began to ring, her eyes moving to Logan. "Hey," she kicked a foot out toward him, "You could help you know. Jackie, Rick, and Jerry. Oh! And Xavier."

Logan had been pulling his phone out of his back pocket, but froze when Ana mentioned the last name. "Seriously, you call X." he almost whined, already pulling up Jackie's contact information in his phone.

Ana glared at him as the ringing on the other end of the line ended, being replaced a deep, Boston accented voice that was swearing at her. "Jesus, Zack, calm the hell down." she grumbled, pausing as he spoke. "The one and only. Look, there's something big going down and we need some help dealing with it." She sighed, "Don't even start, you owe me after that Rawhead in Denver. How long will it take you to get to the Roadhouse?" Looking up she watched as her dad and uncle began to bounce battle strategies off of each other while it looked like Charlie, Cas, and Gabe were discussing how many angels they should have at each gate. "Great, see you then."

Logan had finished his call before Ana had and waited until she was done before he spoke. "Jerry and Rick were already on their way here it seems. They picked up on the omens and were hoping that someone here would know what was going on. They'll be here about noon."

Ana nodded, turning to Connor as a thought struck her. "Any chance we'll be able to get a few Council witches to come help with this?"

"No." Connor shook his head at her, wondering how he was going to tell her what was happening with their coven. "But I can see if Diane and the others will help." He offered, knowing that the Council members would be stronger, but there was just no way he would bring one of them in on this while he wasn't sure who all he could trust.

"Okay?" She drew out the word and raised an eyebrow at her soulmate, dampening her curiosity when he gave her a look that said they could talk about it later. Turning her attention back to Logan, she gave him a wide grin as he stared down at his phone, "Oh, come on! Just call him, Logan! Just because he's your ex doesn't mean he's not a good hunter."

All eyes turned to the two behind the counter, "So you do swing that way." Dean spoke up, not in an offensive way, just stating a fact as he turned to give his little brother a teasing look.

"He swings all of the ways. One of the reasons he's so much fun to keep around." Ana joked, beginning to dial Khloe's number but stopped once Logan turned to look at Dean and Sam.

Logan raised an eyebrow at the eldest Winchester, "What gave it away? Most people don't realize it unless I'm literally all over another guy."

"Connor caught you checking out Sammy last night." Dean answered with a grin, his eyes still focused on his brother as the younger Winchester man blushed.

Ana burst out in laughter at that, wondering how she could have missed that, but glad that Connor had been able to witness it for her. Logan shrugged and glanced at Sam, "Kind of hard not to check out something that fine." he commented before placing his phone to his ear, another phone call already in progress.

Sam's eyes went wide and Dean joined in on Ana's laughter. Things were going to get serious very fast, they needed to enjoy the little fun moments while they could. Once they had enough hunters and angels there, they would be splitting up into groups and making plans to fight off those who would try to open the Devil's Gates.

* * *

"I know you boys were reluctant in calling us in on this one, but I'm sure glad you did. Looks like Ana and Charlie were outnumbered women." Jody spoke up as she, Donna, Alex, Claire, and Krissy all came through the door of the Roadhouse. The sun was just beginning to set, but considering they had left South Dakota that morning they had made great time.

The three younger girls had bags in their hands and they moved as a group to put everything down on the nearest table. Claire and Alex both turned to look at the others in the room with wary eyes, but Krissy walked right over to Dean and bumped him with her shoulder. "Knew you'd be calling for my help someday, Winchester."

"Yeah, yeah." He muttered, returning her shoulder check with one of his own. Before he could ask how she had been doing he was distracted by the blonde sheriff who was walking over to him, arms wide and ready for a hug. "Donna." Dean smiled a little awkwardly as he returned her hug.

Donna smiled as she stepped back, but then poked him in the chest. "It seems you have a lot of explaining to do, mister."

Sam and Jody moved over to the group, "Which we will explain now that everyone we've called is here." Sam offered, turning to Ana since this was her place.

There was just over twenty people in the bar, which was sadly more than the new place had seen since the workers had left. Ana looked around at all of them a moment before speaking. "So, I'm just going to jump right into this. Some of you know me and some of you don't… and some of you know me by a different name." She sent an apologetic look to the hunters she had met since opening the bar. "My name is Anastasia Winchester, I'm Dean's daughter and I'm a witch." Her last words instantly had the hunters on edge and they were beginning to fidget, sending her confused glances.

"Would you all just shut the hell up and listen?" Dean yelled over the noise, moving so that he was standing by Ana's side in support.

The noise slowly died down, "Unlike what a lot of you may think, there's more than just the witches who are given their powers by demons. I'm a natural witch, I know as hunters you probably haven't encountered any, but it's true. Myself and my fiance Connor were born with our powers, we use them for good and part of that is why you're all here." She paused, looking around at everyone. "The archangels Michael and Lucifer have followers who are working to release them from their cage in Hell."

"Another apocalypse?" Jody raised an eyebrow, glancing back and forth between the three Winchesters. Why was it always them and the end of the world?

"Not exactly, but similar." Ana answered, "These angels and demons working to release them have been trying for months, but they're just now getting close enough for it to really worry us."

Alex sighed, "That explains all the weird stuff that's been happening with the weather." She really wanted nothing to do with hunting, but Jody had said it was really important so she had packed a bag and climbed in Donna's car with Krissy without complaint.

Khloe, a hunter who Ana had met while she was supposed to be in college moved toward the front of the group. "What are we supposed to do about that? I'm a good hunter, you know that as well as I do Ana, but none of us are strong enough to stand up against the Devil, let alone him and his brother."

"You're right, none of you are, but Connor and I are." She answered, taking a moment to judge everyone's reactions before continuing. "There's a prophecy that explains that if this happens that witches from our bloodlines will be able to end it. Since it's happening now, that means it's up to us."

Jerry scoffed from the back of the group, he had respect for Ana for saving his friend, but he wasn't okay with anything that had been said since they got there. "A prophecy? And where did you hear that from?"

Connor slowly turned to look at the older hunter, frowning before he spoke. "The archangel Gabriel." he answered, turning to look at the angel who stood near the bar giving everyone a wave.

A majority of the hunters in the room turned to look at Gabriel in shock, but Jody and Claire just shrugged. They had both had enough interaction with Castiel that knowing there was another angel in the room felt like no big deal. "Wait," Claire looked at Gabe with a confused expression, "I thought you were dead."

"Long story short, Gabriel never actually died." Ana explained, earning a hard look from the younger girl. She wondered if Claire would ever really warm up to anyone, maybe after this Ana could try and get her to talk, it probably wouldn't work, but she could still try. "So I was saying, there is a prophecy that says Connor and I will be the only ones strong enough to go up against Michael and Lucifer with the chance of winning. What we need from you is to fight against the demons and angels who will be working to free them."

Krissy raised an eyebrow, "And how exactly are we supposed to take down these angels and demons?" she crossed her arms over her chest. After the last time that she and the Winchester men had seen each other, she had stayed with Aidan and Josephine for a while before going off on her own. She stuck mostly with smaller hunts, simple things like ghosts or vampires, so going up against an angel or a demon would be a whole new experience for her.

"Angel blades." Gabriel offered, making his appear and holding it up so everyone could see it. "We have a small stash in Heaven that are no longer being used. You'll each have one, they can kill both angels and demons."

"Look, going up against angels and demons sucks. They're powerful in a way that most of the other creatures we go up against aren't, but thankfully we have a little time to train everyone. At least the basics." Dean explained, looking around at everyone slowly, "Our source of information is keeping an eye on the movements of the groups, so far they're just gathering enough bodies to stand guard at each Devil's Gate, but once they're ready to make their move we need to be too."

Zack was sitting at a table near the wall, his large build looking even larger in the chair he was seated in. "Okay, so you're going to help us learn how to go up against angels and demons. We have real angels to learn with, you gonna bring in a couple real demons too?"

Ana glared at him, "Of course not. Connor and I can do similar things with our magic that a demon would do during a battle. We'll be playing the bad guys."

"Oh, little miss Ana." Zack stood from his seat, he was taller than Sam, which was hard to come by, and looked like he belonged on one of those fake wrestling shows with all of his muscles. "You are a good hunter, I'll give you that, but I doubt that your witch powers are very strong since you're so small."

"Did he really just say that?" Connor questioned looking at Sam, who was standing right next to him.

"Dude's going to regret that." Gabe spoke up with a mischievous grin as a candybar appeared in his hand. He moved toward the bar and took a seat, "This is going to be good."

Ana slowly raised an eyebrow at the tall man who stood just in front of her, she had already proved that she was a good hunter, she didn't know why he always felt the need to challenge her. Without moving a muscle, she sent a force of power out at Zack, pushing him back just a small ways. It was more of a warning than an actual attack.

"Is that all you've got?" He asked, with a chuckle, wondering how the little redhead was supposed to take on both Michael and Lucifer with such little power."

"Ana, don't." Connor warned, knowing very well that she was ready to show the hunter just how powerful she really was.

Holding out a hand to focus her power, she pushed Zack back until he was pressed up against a wall. She watched as he struggled, unable to break free of the hold she had on him. "Do you know what demons like to do, Zack? They like to press you up against walls," she pressed her power against him a little harder, "they make it completely impossible for you to move, then they start to get creative. Sometimes they'll fill your body with so much pain that you can't even focus." she told him, letting her magic attack all of his nerve endings and filling them with pain. "Or they'll make it impossible for you to breath." She began to slowly put pressure on his windpipe, waiting until he looked genuinely frightened before letting go completely. "But they aren't going to let you go. They will keep you wherever they have you until you're dead. That's why we're training, because being faster than they are and catching them off guard is going to be the way we all get out alive."

The burly hunter paused a moment, using the wall to regain his balance. Zack looked at Ana for a long minute before giving her a slight nod, "So how long do we have before their plan to open the doors to Hell takes place?" he held no grudge against the small woman for what she had done, it was much like when he had questioned her hunting skills and she had almost dropped him to the ground. He now knew that the little redhead was more deadly than most of the creatures he hunted.

"Not long. These demon omens started about three days ago, which is more than enough time to round up the necessary demon power they're going to need." Sam answered, moving over to grab the map that was still sitting on the bar. Turning back around, he placed it on a round table that almost everyone could gather around. "Our contact will notify us the moment he sees any movement toward the five gates."

"So what are we doing until then?" Claire asked, the tone of her voice making it clear that she wanted to waste no time. If they were going to be heading straight into a fight this big, she wanted to do nothing with waiting.

Dean walked over to her, looking into her eyes much the way he did with Ana when he was about to get stern with her. "We're going to train together." He turned to address the whole room, "We'll all be split into five groups and those will be the groups that each go to a separate Devil's Gate. There will be roughly five of us at each, Cas and Gabe are having a couple of each angels come and help. Each group will have at least one witch and one angel in the group, so if you're not comfortable with that idea you better get comfortable with it fast." Turning back to Claire, "You got a problem with any of that?"

"Only that your numbers are off." She spoke with her normal smirk. "I only see two witches in this room, how are we going to have a witch in each group if there are only two."

William moved from where he had been leaning against the back wall, "Might want to count again. There are five of us present." he spoke up. They had agreed to only take three from their remaining coven to the battle and leave the others back in New Orleans. Diane, Gregory, and himself had been the three who it had been decided on should go. Diane since she was a natural witch, then himself and Greg because they had been doing it the longest out of the students.

"Problem solved." Dean pointed out with a smug smile before turning away from the young blonde and looking around the room. "We don't know how much time we'll have before we need to leave. We're going to be breaking off into our five separate groups to begin to become familiar with each other. Ana is going to place everyone in their groups since she knows everyone and actually made lists." he teased, earning a soft chuckle from a few of the people around the bar.

Everything took off quickly as Ana began to place everyone in their groups. Herself, Connor, Charlie, Dean, and Sam would be the people to be in charge at each gate. They had decided that having one of them in each place would be best, even if they didn't like the idea of being separated from one another. Once the room was divided into fifths, each of the leaders began to inform their group of how they planned on things happening and began giving tips on taking out a demon or an angel. It wouldn't be long before they were in the midst of battle and they all wanted the hunters working with them to be prepared. They wanted as many of them to survive this as possible.


	67. Chapter 67

**A/N: So this took way longer to finish than I planned. This chapter did not want to be written and I think it's because I'm secretly arguing with myself about what's to come so I'm pushing it off as long as I can. Anywho, I plan on getting the next chapter up in a more timely manner, but there's no telling if that's going to happen or not. I sincerely apologize and hope that you all stick with me. Thank you for reading this far and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **Also for the sake of how this is going some things that have happened further in seasons nine and ten have happened in this story, other's have not. I think it's pretty obvious in this chapter, but if you're confused I'll answer questions. :)**

The day had been long and filled with battle strategies, training, and communication on how each person worked while in a fight. If they were going to have a chance at stopping this they needed to be able to understand each other. Ana had spent the afternoon with Logan, Xavier, Claire, and Gabe, filling them in on how her powers worked and what she would be able to do to help them in battle. To say it was a bit awkward was an understatement. With two men who had dated for months and a girl just a couple of years younger than her seeming to judge her every move, there were questioning glances thrown her way whenever she made a decision, but they had finally come up with a decent plan. When they were done talking she sent the three hunters with Gabe to begin training on taking out angels. Ana watched as Connor spoke to the group that had been assigned to him; the angel Hannah, Donna, Rick, and his hunting partner Jerry. When splitting everyone up she knew that some people were better left off with a person they were familiar with. It seemed that Connor was beginning to wrap up whatever he was saying, making a gesture toward Hannah, who led them out the door toward the back field where Gabe had gone.

Connor waited until they were gone before moving over to Ana, "What is it?" he questioned, knowing that she wanted to talk.

"Why didn't you want to call in any of the Council witches?" She questioned, knowing that there were other things they needed to speak about, but this wasn't the right time for their relationship problems.

Looking around at the amount of people still in the room, he grabbed her hand and led her outside. He may have just been extremely paranoid, but he honestly didn't care he wouldn't chance the wrong person hearing their conversation. "Caoimhe, Niall, and I are pretty certain that someone in the Council is working against us."

Shock filled Ana instantly and then she quickly moved to wondering how something like that could have happened with how close all of the Council families seemed to be. "Do you have any idea who it is?" This was something that needed to be handled quickly, there were too many decisions and plans made within the Council to have someone running their mouth to the enemy.

"No. Caoimhe and Niall were hoping to be able to catch a hint of whoever it is, but they've come up with nothing. Before I left we were planning on using a spell, hoping that it would lead us in the right direction. I assume they'll still carry on with that plan even though I'm not there." He explained, leaning back against the wall of the building as he looked her over. "I'm needed here for now, they'll be able to handle this until I can get back."

Ana had began to pace around in a small circle, wondering why everything had to hit the fan at once. She hoped that Connor was right about their relatives being able to handle this treachery on their own, they would have to deal with Michael and Lucifer before they were able to go back to Ireland. "Okay. We'll deal with this first." she nodded, mostly to herself, before turning to look at him. His rough appearance making her chest ache once more, "You look like Hell, Connor."

"Yeah, well the love of my life suddenly disappearing after the loss of our daughter kind of had a bad affect on my ability to care about almost everything else." He snapped, turning to go back inside. Pausing just before the door, he looked over his shoulder, "I'm glad to see that you're looking good though."

The comment stung as Ana watched Connor disappear into the bar. She sighed and moved further into the small parking area, stopping only when she reached Logan's truck so that she had something to lean against. Closing her eyes, she folded her arms on top of the hood and rested her forehead on them. There was an argument being fought inside her head between the part of her that knew she needed the time away from her family and the other part who thought it had been a selfish move. Either way it had happened. There was nothing she could do to change that other than try to make amends now. The sound of gravel crunching under shoes made her lift her head and look over her shoulder, a small frown pulling at her lips as Dean walked towards her. "If you're out here to yell at me I think that can wait until after the rest of this is over."

Dean furrowed his brow at his daughter, not amused by the sass she was giving him. "I wanted to check on you. Connor came back inside in a huff and I figured that meant you two had gotten into it."

Turning around, Ana rested against the front bumper of the truck and shook her head. "We didn't fight. He was just pointing out the truth." She closed her eyes and turned her face up toward the afternoon sun, wishing the warmth of it would thaw the coldness that had been filling her for the past few months. "I left because I thought it would be best for all of us if I was gone for a while." she told him, not opening her eyes. "After what happened… I could barely stand myself and could only imagine that it wasn't easy for any of you to be around me after I failed."

Sighing Dean moved so that he was standing next to her, his eyes focused on the building in front of them. "None of this has been easy, Ana." he began, head turning so that he could look at her. "But when you left it all got a lot worse." He watched as she cringed at his words, "We were all so worried about looking for you that we pushed everything else aside for weeks. I barely slept, Connor wouldn't do anything other than try to find you. The only ones who were somewhat holding it together were Charlie, Kellen, and Sam; they all said you'd come back, that we just needed to give you time and space. That eventually you'd come back, but how were we supposed to know that for sure? You'd left without a word." Looking down at his boots, he shook his head, "I feared the worse, you know? I assumed that the next time I'd see you, if I ever did, it would be to identify your body."

"Dad-"

"No, Ana, you need to hear this. After everything we've been through you still don't understand how much any of us would give to help you. We're family and when times get rough we don't leave to deal with it on our own." His voice began to raise and he pushed himself away from the truck, "If you just would have let us help…" Shaking his head, Dean spun around to look at her and stopped for a moment when their eyes finally met. "Things would be going a lot smoother right now." he finished his statement.

Ana was trying to decide what to say next when Sam came busting out of the bar door, "You may want to come referee this." he said, eyes focused on her before he turned quickly to go back inside.

"That can't be good." She muttered to herself before pushing herself off of Logan's truck and hurrying back into her bar. It seemed that in the time she had been gone someone had reorganized everyone, and the tables, so that they were no longer just sparring with their separate groups, but everyone grouped together while a one to one was going on in the middle. In all honesty it reminded Ana a lot of the movie Fight Club. Moving toward the small break in people where Gabriel was standing, he seemed to be in charge of the whole thing, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to see who was in the middle of the ring of people. Once she was at Gabe's side, she sighed. Standing in the middle of her bar floor was Connor and Logan, both looking extremely determined to be the winner of the fight. "You can't seriously let this be happening, Connor is going to wipe the floor with him." she frowned at the archangel.

Gabe scoffed, "Like that would be any fun to watch. No, I put a damper on Connor's magic. This is straight hand to hand."

"Great." Ana grumbled. Connor had gotten better at physical combat since they had first met, but Logan had been hunting and training for years. This wasn't going to be a pretty fight and she honestly didn't believe that either man would give up until his opponent was on the ground.

"Alright." Gabe spoke up, getting the attention of the whole room. "Just don't kill each other. We don't need to be down two bodies when it's time to actually fight the bad guys."

Once he was finished talking both men moved quickly, Logan instantly attacking first causing Connor to resort to defensive moves. The sound of thuds filled the room as Connor blocked every strike Logan threw and they seemed pretty evenly matched until Connor threw his first punch. Crack! Logan's head jerked to the side, but Connor didn't stop moving. Taking a step forward he brought his knee up as his hands gripped onto Logan's shoulders, forcing him the bend over. Before he could make contact Logan pushed the leg aside and jerked his head up quickly, hitting it against Connor's jaw. Each man took a couple of steps back, reassessing their opponent before they both charged toward each other. It seemed that neither was worried about hurting the other as hands and feet connected to various body parts in thuds that only seemed to be getting louder, the force of each blow becoming greater.

"Gabe, call it. They won't be any use to us if they're both too beat up to stand." Ana pointed out, seeing that they were both getting tired and their movements were slowing down. Though she would never say so out loud Logan was still getting in the most hits, Connor was no where near as trained as the hunter was, but the witch was quick.

The archangel sighed, "But it was just getting good." he whined, knowing that he would have to stop it sooner rather than later. Neither of the men in the circle were letting up on their blows and they would need everyone there if they were going to hold a chance against those who would be working to open the Devil's Gates. "Alright! That's enough! You two are done." he called, watching as both men paused. Logan currently had Connor in a headlock which probably would have knocked the witch unconscious if he hadn't stopped them. "Next two up! Krissy Chambers and Anastasia Winchester!" He announced with his best imitation of a one of those TV announcers.

Ana turned to glare at him, "Really, you had to full name it?" she rolled her eyes and shook her head as she moved into the circle that Connor and Logan were leaving. She shared a look with each man, but said nothing as she took her place across from Krissy. "I'm assuming you're going to put a leash on my powers too?" she directed the question at Gabriel as she began to pull her hair into a ponytail.

"Of course. Your default is to use your powers, this way you and Krissy are evenly matched." He knew that Ana wouldn't purposefully hurt Krissy with her power, but with how long she had gone without using it she could have lost some control over it. Using his grace to make her powers inaccessible, he watched her frown slightly at the feeling. Once he was sure that he'd blocked her magic he looked back and forth between the two young women, "Same rules apply. Don't kill each other."

If it had been almost any other person in the room Krissy would have instantly attacked once the angel who was running this training gave them the nod that said they could begin, but Ana had been trained by the Winchester men and Krissy knew better than to think she was the stronger fighter. Even without her powers Ana most likely had the upper hand. There was one thing that Krissy was almost certain of and that was the fact that she was probably quicker than the witch in front of her. With that in mind the young huntress made her first strike, aiming for the left side of Ana's face, but the other woman dodged it quickly. It seemed that this was going to be as difficult as Krissy had originally expected.

* * *

The two women had sparred for close to twenty minutes before Gabriel called an end to it. They had both taken their fair share of hits, it seemed that though Ana had the better training out of the two Krissy's speed and quick thinking put her on par with her opponent. After Ana left the circle of people she glanced toward the clock and noticed how late it was getting, if they were going to get sleeping arrangements sorted and everyone to bed at a decent time they would need to start working on dinner. Everyone needed to be properly taken care of so they were in peak shape for the upcoming fight. Walking over to where Connor and Logan both sat at a table, having what seemed to be a civil conversation, she began to form a plan in her head. Both men turned their attention toward her as she stopped next to their table, "I should probably get started on feeding these people, want to give me a hand in the kitchen?" she aimed the question at Connor, figuring they could talk while they worked.

Simply nodding, he stood up from his chair and walked around her. "So I know I said I'm on your side in all of this, but you aren't one hundred percent in the right here, Ana." Logan spoke up once Connor was out of earshot.

"Yeah, I know." She admitted with a sigh, she knew that she had a lot to apologize for. "You feel up to helping too? I could use someone behind the bar making sure everyone has drinks."

Logan stood, "Sure. I'm probably going to need a second set of hands though." There were a lot of people in there and he knew how quick a hunter could put down a drink.

Ana nodded, knowing that leaving him behind the bar alone would only cause issues. "Why don't you ask Charlie? I'm sure she'd be more than willing to help."

Logan searched around the room until he found the other redheaded woman in the room. "Sounds like a plan. Holler if you guys need anything in the kitchen." he gave her a soft smile before walking off toward Charlie.

Slowly turning around Ana stared at the door that led into the kitchen, wondering if it had been such a good idea to place herself and Connor in one room for a long amount of time. Alone. In a room. Where fights were most likely going to be had. Why hadn't she just asked Jody? With a sigh she made her way across the room, knowing that it would just be better to get this over with. Bracing herself before pushing through the door, she was shocked to see that Connor had already gotten to work looking for things and pulling out what he thought they would use.

"So I'm just going to assume that we're making a bunch of everything? Buffet style type thing?" He asked once she had entered the room. It would just be easier to feed so many people that way. "If we're all going to be here for a while you may need to stock up on more food."

"Yeah, shipment normally comes through on Thursdays." She explained as she turned to glance at the small calendar on the wall underneath the clock. "Which is tomorrow, so we'll be fine." Moving over to the long metal table that he was lining things up on she glanced at everything he had gathered. "So you get burgers and I'll handle chicken and sides?"

Connor nodded as he grabbed another handful of stuff out of the large refrigerator, "Sounds like a plan to me." He moved past her and set everything down, his eyes yet to make contact with hers.

Taking in a deep breath she moved toward the small radio that she kept up on a shelf and turned it on, getting the message that Connor wasn't in the talking mood. Thankful that her hair was already up, she stopped by the large sink to wash her hands before moving over to where all of the food was set out. Ana began grabbing the things that she would need to make some of the sides she had in mind, making sure that she had everything before she went to work and singing the song playing on the radio softly. Very few stations came through to the Roadhouse, but she had found the one that came in the clearest was a rock station, varying between classics and some newer stuff. Since the first time she had used the kitchen she had never changed the station, mostly because she didn't want to bother with it, but also because she enjoyed it.

The song changed and the slow guitar that filled the room put a soft smile on Ana's face. Nothing Else Matters by Metallica had always been one of her favorite songs. "So close, no matter how far," she sung, taking a step away from the table where she had been cutting potatoes to make sure that the water was boiling on the stove. All of her moments were almost dance like moves, but smaller. It was something she was known for doing. A song could start playing anywhere and she would see a dance that would go with it in her head, then it was all too hard to keep herself from doing it, even if it was on a smaller scale.

Across the room Connor watched her. It had been painstakingly clear how much he missed her while she was gone and how he relied on her from day to day, but one thing he never thought he'd miss so much was this. She would start dancing and the most serene look would come over her face, like anything could happen and it would do nothing to stop what she was doing. It had taken a while for him to get over the initial hurt of her leaving, but immediately after he had all he could focus on was the anger. How could she leave him to grieve the loss of their daughter alone? It was incredibly selfish of her to do and even now he was still angry about it, but at the same time he was just happy to see her, to know that she was okay. She checked the status of the pot on the stove and then turned back around to continue what she had been doing at the table, but she froze when she noticed his eyes on her. They were locked in a stare, blue meeting green for one of the longest times since they were reunited and neither of them knew what to do. Slowly Connor dropped his eyes and turned back around to his task, they would never get anything finished if they didn't get back to work.

* * *

Jody watched as her girls sat across the room at a table with the large hunter, Zack, and another young man she hadn't caught the name of. She was sitting at the bar with Donna, Sam, and Dean and though she was still tuned into the conversation happening around her, she refused to pull her eyes away from Claire and Alex who looked completely enthralled by some story Zack was telling.

"So Ana's your daughter." Donna repeated, trying to get the story straight in her head. Jody had tried explaining everything to her, but they had been in a rush to leave so she hadn't gotten much other than Dean had a kid that no one but him had known about for close to eighteen years. "And the young black haired guy-"

"Connor." Sam supplied the name.

Donna gave a slight tilt of her head in thanks, "Connor is her soulmate? And they're both good witches?" She was no longer stranger to the paranormal world and most of the things it contained, but witches were something she hadn't quite figured out yet.

"Yep." Dean answered, taking a long drink out of the bottle in his hand. "And when angel douches one and two come top side they're supposed to be what stops them." He glanced through the window that sat in the wall that separated the bar and the kitchen, he caught sight of Ana doing a little dance as she moved around the room and he couldn't help but smile a little.

Jody turned her full attention back to the people she was sitting with, her eyes landing on Dean just in time to catch the look of inner turmoil that passed through his eyes as his smile fell. "Look, I know you want to be mad at her for running off the way she did, but I think you need to focus on the positive. You're all together again and she's doing okay, she's dealing with everything. So whatever she thought she needed, she must have gotten while she was away."

Dean scoffed, "Yeah, like a bar and gay boy wonder over there." he gestured to Logan who wasn't far away from them. He still hadn't decided if he liked the young hunter or not. He had put up a decent fight against Connor earlier and all things considered would probably make a good addition to their thrown together army, but that still didn't help him make a decision.

"Not gay, bi." Logan corrected as he moved over to where they were. "Also, boy wonder? I'd much rather be called _man_ wonder." He gave the eldest Winchester a cheeky smile before moving to grab him another bottle of beer.

Dean rolled his eyes and took the fresh bottle when it was offered to him. "So, enough about our crazy. How's everything been with you two? Alex and Claire giving you any trouble?" he aimed the last question at Jody, knowing that having one teenage girl was enough, he couldn't imagine handling two.

Giving another glance toward the table that the girls were sitting at Jody shrugged, "They have their ups and downs. Claire has cared little about anything other than hunting so she was happy that you guys called for our help, but Alex was more weary. She'd rather have her time being normal now that she's away from those vampires. All in all, they've been pretty good."

"What about you, Donna? We haven't seen you since the sheriff convention." Sam asked, it hadn't been easy having to bring someone else into the world he and his family lived in, but he was glad that it seemed she was doing okay.

The blonde woman gave him a bright smile, "You know, things have been extremely normal. Nothing strange, just the normal weirdos we get through the station. I've been keeping up on everything though, just in case something were to come up. Even started taking kickboxing classes."

Jody turned to her fellow sheriff and gave her a grin. Though Donna was almost her polar opposite, she was glad that they had developed the strange friendship that they had. "See we get the same ol' same ol'. You guys get all the crazy stuff." she patted Sam on the shoulder and gave him a sly grin.

"Yeah, thanks Jody." He responded with a small laugh, thankful to have the rest of their extended family around them. Even if there was the possibility that none of them would come out of this alive.

"The food is ready!" Ana called as she pushed the door to the kitchen open, "You'll have to come through here to get it because I'm not moving all of this just to move all of the dishes back."

Dean glanced at the clock, he could have sworn that it had only been ten minutes since they had started cooking, but it seemed more time had passed than he thought as he sat around catching up with the two women. Everyone began to stand up and move toward the kitchen, they were all eager to eat after the training they had that afternoon.

The group of people moved fairly quickly through the kitchen, filling their plates and then filing back out to the bar. They all spread out around the room in groups, chatting while they ate, though not all of the tension was gone. What laid ahead for them was something no one would easily forget about, even more so since none of them were sure when they would have to be ready to fight. Nevertheless it didn't take long for plates to be emptied. All hands were on deck to clean everything up, which made it a quick task, and then came time to find everyone a place to sleep. There weren't enough rooms for everyone, but some of them had two twin beds instead of a queen and by doubling up they were able to get everyone a place to sleep. It also helped that Charlie offered to bunk in Ana's queen with her while Connor took the pull out couch. They weren't in a good enough place to share the same bed, but it was understood that neither should get far away from the other in case something happened that was unplanned.

Once she was sure that everyone was situated for the night Ana headed upstairs to her apartment, more than ready to fall into her bed and pass out for the night. Walking through the door the first thing she noticed was the sound of her shower running, the second was that Connor was in the middle of changing out of his day clothes and she'd caught him with his shirt off. Her eyes lingered for a moment before she turned to close the door. Deciding to keep her mouth shut she headed straight for her bedroom, only pausing when she had the door open, "Goodnight." she told him softly.

"Goodnight." Connor spoke, pulling a clean shirt over his head quickly, his eyesight clearing the fabric just before she closed her door. "Ana." Her name was rushed and he watched as it caused her to stop the door before it closed all of the way.

"Yes?" She pulled the door open just enough to stick her head out, her voice betraying the hopefulness that she didn't want him to see. Maybe he would rethink sleeping on the couch. All she wanted was to be wrapped in his arms.

There was a pause before he spoke again, refusing to let any of his own emotions through, "Thanks for letting me take the couch."

Internally wincing, she gave him a soft smile, "Of course. Night." she said again before closing the door. Of course he wouldn't want to share her bed. How could she have even thought that he would? With a sigh Ana moved over to her dresser, picked the first clothes she found and changed quickly. All she wanted to do was sleep. It didn't take long after her head hit the pillow for her to feel the affects of the day weigh down on her, successfully exhausting her enough to fall asleep quickly.


	68. Chapter 68

Three days had passed since everyone had arrived at the Roadhouse and there had been no updated from Crowley. Charlie had kept a constant track on demon omens with her laptop and the frequency of them popping up around the country was only getting higher. The training had continued each day, the more time they had to learn to understand each other the better. After the first initial large group training all others were held only between those in each group, since they wouldn't all be fighting side by side as a whole unless something went wrong. Second apocalypse kind of wrong. Dean had spent two days with the members of his group, bringing them up to speed on everything he knew about killing angels and demons with the help of the two angels in the group. Ana had seemed to know that it would be less than likely for him to trust a new angel so she had made sure that Cas and himself were working together, even if the second angel in the group was one that he'd never met before.

"Dean, the angels we've brought here are highly trusted. Gabriel and I wouldn't chance anything about this mission going wrong." Castiel had assured him, again, as they had begun their training that day.

Hours had passed since then and Dean, along with both angels, were pushing Krissy and William harder than they had in the days before. Both the young hunter and the large witch needed to be prepared for the force they were going to go up against. It had been a smart move on Ana's part to make sure there was at least one angel and one witch in each group along with making sure that certain groups had one person more than the rest. His daughter had planned well. Gabriel would stick with her, Hannah was with Connor, and Ariel was Dean's main angel contender so that Cas could move from group to group if it was needed. He and another, almost scary looking, female angel would be the ones to assist the others if it was needed. Gabriel would have been preferable in Dean's mind, but he also understood that the archangel did not want to leave Ana alone on the chance that she would come face to face with his brothers. Pushing all of that from his head he took in the two members of his group that were panting heavily at the last assault he and the angels had put on them. "Alright guys, let's take a break. No point in wearing you out completely."

Almost all of the tables in the barroom had been pushed back against the walls, some stacked on top of others while a few sat on their own for when it was time for everyone to eat. There was no way they would all fit at the bar comfortably. Out of the five groups three were training inside; Dean's, Sam's, and Charlie's. Ana and Connor had taken their groups outside to the large field behind the building so that the witches could use their powers without destroying anything inside. At first it had taken Ana a little adjusting to go back to using her powers, but thankfully it had only taken about a day before she had full control again because she had almost had Claire on the verge of running once or twice. It was no surprise to anyone who knew Claire that she was weary of the witches and angels in the room, she had little to no good experiences with any type of nonhuman being.

As he considered everything Dean moved over to the table he had set a bottle of water down on before they had gotten started. He almost choked on the liquid when Ana came running through the back door that they'd propped open. She was waving her now activated cell phone around as she ran into the center of the room with Claire, Logan, and Xavier on her heels. "Crowley called with news."

"Has there been movement toward the gates?" Castiel asked, meeting the small group with Dean following behind him. If their enemy was moving they would need to do the same.

Ana shook her head, what little bit of her bangs that were hanging in front of her face swayed back and forth. "No, but he thinks that they've finally collected all of the bodies they're going to be using. Which means that we may not have long before they make their move."

"Or they could continue to bide their time until we're so confused about why they haven and use that to their advantage." Claire offered in her normal snarky tone. She was ready to get in on a good fight, one where she could actually kill something, but she also didn't want to die.

Dean sighed after a thought ran through his head, one that had a few times before, but it wasn't something he would suggest lightly. "Ana." even her name sounded questionable as he spoke. Waiting until her attention was focused on him, he stealed himself before opening his mouth again. "I know you don't like to, but we could really use a vision right about now. Just a glimpse of when they're going to move could help keep us alive."

Cas frowned and turned slightly so that he could look at Dean, "You know that Ana forcing a vision has had some bad side effects." They had watched a few times as she had dealt with the aftershock on her powers and body after she'd forced a vision. There were a few times when she had just been physically ill for a few days after, but then there had been a time where she'd almost lost all strength in her power for a week. It had taken almost a month for her visions to come back after that.

"I've already talked it over with Connor." Ana told them, not waiting for her dad to answer the question that had been directed at him. "We think that we can do a spell that will help open me up to a vision rather than forcing it. If we do it all right it should help."

The angel turned back to look at the young witch that he had grown so fond of, "There are no after effects to this spell?" his eyes squinted at her slighting in a way that she referred to as the 'I know when you're lying so don't even try it' look. "We cannot risk you being weak or without your powers with Lucifer and Michael on the brink of rising."

Giving him a small smile, Ana nodded, "I know, Cas. The spell isn't hard and since I'm not actually forcing anything there is pretty much zero chance that there will be side effects, but then again I am a Winchester and things do go wrong for us at the worst times. So," she shrugged, "we either take the chance and be prepared or don't and be hurrying to get to our posts before the enemy."

Turning once more to look at Dean, Cas only had to see the look in his eyes before he was turning back to Ana and nodding. "Be careful. Make sure you have taken every precaution you can and that Gabriel is there in case anything goes wrong."

Ana raised an eyebrow at him, "Yeah, okay, dad." she shook her head at him before turning around with her group to go back outside so that she could talk to Connor. They would need to make sure they had all of the supplies they would need and then once night set in they would do the spell.

"I do not understand." Castiel faced Dean with a confused expression, "I am not her father and she surely knows that you are. So why did she refer to me as such?"

Dean shook his head, "Sarcasm, Cas." he answered before turning back to the water bottle he had left on the table. "She called you that because you were acting like a parent."

"I was merely looking out for her well being. Ana is a part of this family, the one that you've pointed out I am a part of, which means that it is my duty to make sure that she is protected. Or at least taking the right precautions." The angel followed closely behind the hunter. He had been on earth for some time now, but there were still things he had not quite figured out about humans. Especially the younger ones.

"Exactly." Dean nodded, taking another drink of his water before seeing the still confused look on Cas' face. "You know, they say it takes a village to raise a child." he pointed out, knowing for a fact that the help that Sam, Cas, Gabe, and Charlie had all given in that department was part of what kept him attempting this fatherhood thing.

Castiel's frown only seemed to deepen, "But, Dean, we do not have a village."

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay to do this?" Logan asked Ana as he helped her move the trunk that had been sitting at the foot of her bed down the stairs from her apartment to the field behind the bar where she and Connor would be doing whatever crazy magic they had planned to.

With a roll of her eyes Ana huffed as they set the trunk down. "Yes, I'm sure. I have full control of my power and my dad's right. Knowing when they're going to make their move means we can be more prepared, which means that more of us will come back alive."

His face fell, "You don't expect us all to come back?" he questioned, eyes catching movement as Connor came out the back door of the Roadhouse with a bag full of stuff in his hand.

"I'm not dumb, Logan." She almost snapped, her hands moving to rest on her hips. "Do I _want_ all of us to come back? Of course, but this isn't my first go with a war like this. I watched my dad and uncle lose so many people fighting to stop the apocalypse and I almost lost Connor once already fighting against these dick bags who think that they can do whatever the hell they want." She shook her head and pushed a hand through her hair, "I don't expect every single one of us to make it out of this alive, but I'm going to do everything I can to give us our best chance."

Logan watched as Connor paused when Ana mentioned him, but then he continued their direction. He wanted to say that the determination in her green eyes gave him hope, that the way the moon shone down on her from high in the sky made her seem invincible, but he refused to lie to himself. This was going to be the biggest fight he'd ever gone into and with Ana's words ringing in his head he knew that it'd just be better to prepare himself for the worst. With a solemn nod, he changed the subject as Connor joined them, "Anything else I can do to help out with this?"

Ana and Connor looked at each other, exchanging a silent conversation. "No." Connor answered, "We've got it from here, but if you want to go let Dean and Gabriel know we're going to start soon… they're both going to want to be out here for this." Leaving them to start their work, Logan walked passed the pair and headed back into the bar.

Waiting until Logan was almost inside Ana turned to face Connor, "Do you want to start on making the circle and I'll get everything else ready?" she questioned. It wasn't often that the spells and rituals they did frequently called for a protective circle to be cast around them, but when they were larger or involved things that were more spiritual and less physical it was always safer for both of them and the people around that they keep it in a safe space.

"Sounds like a plan." He agreed, opening the backpack he almost always had with him and pulling out the things he would need so he could leave the rest with her. The circle didn't need to be big, just large enough to hold both of them and the altar that Ana was setting up. It was always a little entertaining to him that most fiction based on witches had them creating circles with things like representation of the elements or physical objects when in reality it was just a simple spell. Sure adding an herb or two for certain rituals, like the hemlock he was using, could help the surrounding energy to obtain the desired goal, but for the most part it was just another spell. One that the witches of the Council were taught at a young age. Just as he was finishing up he caught movement coming from the Roadhouse. Only expecting to see Dean, Gabe, and maybe Sam and Cas come out he was more than a little surprised when almost everyone who had been inside came through the door and began walking toward them. He was about to warn them not to come to close to himself or Ana, but Sam stopped everyone at just about halfway between their circle and the building.

"Alright, listen up guys!" Sam called, whistling to get their attention. "For most of you this is going to be your first time seeing something like this. Do not get too close, you could hurt yourself or Ana or Connor. If something goes wrong, do not move until myself, Dean, Gabe, or Cas do first. Do not distract them, do not try to interfere, and _do not_ break their circle. You could literally die."

Ana had finished putting the altar together halfway through Sam's rant and she moved to stand next to Connor. "Since when is he so familiar with all of this? Sure, he's seen us do magic, but we've never given him a lecture like that."

"He's been talking a lot with Val lately." Connor answered, eyes focused on the group as they continued toward them now that Sam was done speaking. "Sometimes it's about magic and stuff." he added, finally looking down at her.

"And the other times?" She turned her head so she was looking at him as well. The moonlight always caught his ice blue eyes in the most beautiful way and it was really hard for her to not reach up to kiss him.

"They flirt." He shrugged, turning his attention to Dean and Gabriel who had stopped a few feet in front of them. "We're ready to start this. Just so you both know, this may not be an instantaneous thing, it could take a while before she gets a vision if she even does at all."

Dean nodded, "We'll wait until you two call it. Just be careful, alright?" he gave them both a stern look until they answered with nods. "Good." As long as they both weren't hurt in anyway doing this he didn't care if they didn't get results, at least they had tried and weren't having Ana actual force a vision.

"You're working with some pretty powerful ingredients." Gabriel piped in, he had been studying the altar and he could smell the hemlock in the air. "You've been out of the game for a while, Princess, you need to be very careful with this stuff."

Ana scoffed, "Yes, I know!" She almost yelled, causing all of the small chatter that had been going on with everyone else stop. "You all keep acting like this is my first day. I've been doing this for long enough to know exactly what we're doing. Just because I didn't do anything big in the past three months doesn't mean I wasn't keeping up with my studies." Turning away from the edge of the circle, she headed toward the altar. "Let's get started Connor."

The three men shared a look before Connor turned and met Ana at the altar where she was sitting with her legs tucked underneath her. Taking his place across from her he waited until their eyes met before speaking, "If this is going to work you need to let go of that frustration. Whatever you're carrying around inside of you is going to block whatever we try, no matter how strong the magic."

Taking in a long, deep breath she let it out as she closed her eyes. There were too many emotions running wild through her and she needed to calm them down before they started the ritual. If her mind was clouded with everything else this would never work. She let herself focus on relaxing for a few moments before she opened her eyes and looked at him, there was one thing running through her head that she just couldn't get rid of. "I love you so much." her words were barely above a whisper, "And I am so sorry that I left when you needed me."

He set his hands on top of the trunk, his palms up toward the sky, "I know you are." he told her, giving her a weak smile when she placed her hands on top of him. "That doesn't mean we're okay, but I'm not going anywhere. We're going to deal with all of this and then we'll work on us."

She gave him a small nod, knowing that it was better than nothing and it helped calm her some. "Alright, I'm ready." she told him. There was a small brass bowl sitting between their clasped hands that a mixture of herbs was slowly burning in. She had set up five candle, each at a point matching the star on the cloth that sat on top of her trunk. They each took in a deep breath before Ana started up the chant, a surge of power coursing through her when Connor began to chant with her. It had been too long since they had done something like this. Something about them being soulmates made their powers flow amazingly well together, each building off the other until it seemed like nothing could stop them.

After they had been chanting for a while both witches opened their eyes, looking at each other they became more forceful with their chant. The sharp ancient words rolling off of their tongues with more purpose. The group that stood around the circle watching started to become fidgety, those who didn't know how magic worked waiting for something to happen. "Is it supposed to take this long?" Jody whispered to Diane who stood just to the side of her. Ten minutes must have passed since the two had started chanting.

"Magic like this takes time." The older woman responded, wondering if she, William, and Gregory should add their own strength to the spell. Diane could feel the energy in the night flowing toward the two powerful witches in the circle, but if Ana wasn't meant to have a vision about their upcoming battle it wouldn't happen. No matter how much they called on their power to help it. She was about to suggest that they stop and start over with the aide of herself and the other two witches there, but stopped when a different feeling came over the area around them.

William and Gregory had been keeping toward the side of the group, a bit behind everyone else. Magic like this was normal to them and they didn't necessarily need to see it happen, they were mostly there in the case they were needed. The moment the energy in the night changed William moved quickly toward the edge of the circle, Gregory and Diane close behind him. "Something is coming." he spoke. Though he was a student and not a natural witch, he prided himself on the fact that he was greatly intune with the energy around him and something was headed toward them.

"Demons?" Dean questioned, instantly on edge and preparing for an attack. If demons or angels were coming Gabriel and Castiel should have been able to sense it before the witches had, he knew that, but he wouldn't take any chances.

"No." Diane spoke, turning to look behind them. Something was heading their way at a speed that shouldn't have been possible and whatever it was could not be classified as living. Just as it dawned on her what was happening the presence shot past the group and into the circle that Connor created. Swiftly turning around, she watched as it looked like something had knocked into Ana and she was forced backward by the force.

"Ana!" Six voices rang into the night as Connor moved to her side within the circle and Dean, Sam, Cas, Gabe, and Charlie all moved as close to them as they could get without running into the barrier that Connor had put up. "Ana, can you hear me?" Connor placed a hand to her cheek, wondering what had gone wrong with their spell. It was one of the least complex spells he'd ever done and for it to go wrong was completely unexpected.

"What's wrong with her?" Dean asked. He had been prepared for a vision, one where her focus was completely pulled away from the outside world and the only thing she was seeing or hearing was what was going on behind her closed eyes, but this was nothing like that.

They all watched as the young woman laying on the ground didn't move, it didn't even seem like her chest was rising or falling with her breathing. "Drop your barrier so I can heal her!" Gabriel demanded, she was obviously hurt.

Connor shook his head, "We don't know what happened, it's better I leave it up until we figured out what happened." He pointed out, if he dropped the barrier and whatever had hit Ana decided to leave the others could get seriously hurt.

Gabriel was about to force himself into the circle until Ana sat straight up. He was relieved that she was responsive, but when she opened her eyes that relief instantly disappeared. Her eyes were pure white.

"Ask and I shall answer." The voice that came out of Ana was her own, but there was a layer of something else hidden within it. Another female voice that had a lower pitch than her own.

Slowly moving back, Connor stood up and prepared to protect himself if need be. This was nothing he had ever encountered before. "Ana?" he questioned, knowing that his soulmate was not in control of what was going on.

"Ask and I shall answer." She repeated, her cold, white eyes moving to focus up at him.

"What are you?" Connor asked, he needed to know what he was dealing with before he decided what to do next. If he needed to get rid of whatever was inside of Ana then he would need the help of the other witches there.

The thing in Ana's body slowly turned its focus away from Connor and toward the people on the outside of the circle, causing a few to gasp when they got their first look at her eyes. "I am one who died long ago."

"You're a spirit?" Sam spoke up, part of him itching to exorcise whatever was inside of his niece, but if it wasn't a demon the exorcisms he knew would be no help.

She stood up and moved toward the edge of the circle, standing just in front of Sam. "Wise deduction Samuel. I am a spirit." turning to look back at Connor, she didn't move from the spot she stood. "Ask and I shall answer."

"Who are you?" Connor asked, there was nothing in the spell that should have gotten so confused as to summon a spirit into Ana's body. This wasn't what the ritual was meant for at all.

"I was born under the surname Macdermott, but I am who Ana is. A descendant of the Caomhánach bloodline, just as you are a descendant of the Mac an tSagairt bloodline. Though it seems since the pact that your Mohr ancestor and Ana's Good ancestor made that your lines go by those names. I lived long before Sarah did." The spirit explained, beginning to walk the edge of the circle that Connor still had in place.

He paused, brow furrowed, "Macdermott? Ora Macdermott?" If the spirit inside of Ana was who he thought it was then maybe the spell had worked, even if it had been in an extremely backwards way.

The sly smile that creeped onto Ana's face was unsettling, it was a smile that she would never use herself. "The one and only. Now, Mr. Mohr, ask and I shall answer." she repeated her first words again, stopping before she turned to face Connor.

"We are about to go into battle with a group of angels and demons who wish to release Lucifer and Michael from their cage. When will our enemy make their move at the Devil's Gates?" He asked, knowing that he had to be specific if he was going to get the answer he seeked. Ora was the only other witch in their line other than Ana to keep the gift of visions after they received control of their full powers. The woman had spent years training the power to do as she pleased and was well known for being able to look into the future for the information she seeked.

The white eyes slowly closed and an expression of focus came over Ana's face, "The gates into Hell will be opened the night when there is no moon in the sky. Your battle will be long and taxing, but the outcome is… undecided." Her eyes opened again and she took her time looking over every face in the group. "You will suffer loss, but there is a sacrifice that must be made if you are to achieve your desired outcome."

Connor looked up toward the sky, the moon was waning that night, just a small sliver left to see. The night she spoke of was only two days away. "Who's sacrifice will it be?" He asked, turning his attention back to the spirit in Ana's body.

Again the creepy smile took over Ana's face, "It will be known only when it is time." After those words were spoken Ana's chest raised, her body arching as the spirit left her body. The moment it was gone she fell to the ground.

Running to her side he kneeled down next to her and placed her head on his knees. Looking up toward the sky, he felt more than watched as the spirit of Ora sailed through the air and back to wherever she came from. Once he was certain she was gone, he dropped the barrier so that the rest of the family could come check on Ana. The pair were instantly surrounded immediately by Dean, Sam, Charlie, Cas, and Gabe then everyone else formed a loose circle around them.

"What the hell was that?" Dean snapped, dropping on his knees next to Connor and looking down at Ana. "I thought that whole thing was supposed to give Ana a vision, not get her possessed by the ghost of one of her freaking ancestors!"

"I don't know." Connor asked shaking his head, "That shouldn't have been able to happen. There was nothing in the spell that would have given way to the summoning of a spirit." his eyes were focused on Ana's face, waiting for her to open her eyes. He could hear the other's talking around her, trying to figure out how this could have happened, but he was more focused on Ana. It seemed like he had been waiting for long minutes when he caught the first sight of a twitch on her brow. "Ana?" His question was answered with a soft groan and her face scrunching up.

Dean had quickly pulled his attention away from the conversation when his daughter began to stir, reaching for her hand he gave it a gentle squeeze. "Come on, baby girl, wake up." He had seen her passed out like this one too many times for his comfort and he was sure that if it didn't stop happening sometime soon that he was going to lose it.

Groaning again Ana slowly blinked her eyes open and focusing up at Connor, "How did that even happen?" she whinned, placing a hand to her head and the lingering pain that was left there. "She shouldn't have been able to get through the barrier you put up."

"I honestly have no idea." Connor answered, feeling extremely useless without an answer or explanation of what had just happened. "I think at this point we should just be thankful that we got the answer we were looking for and that she's gone."

Dean frowned at Connor, wondering why he wasn't worried about the fact that something that shouldn't have happened _had_ happened. "How are you feeling?" Dean asked, guessing that having a spirit shove it's way into your body was probably not the easiest thing to deal with in the world.

Taking a moment to assess if there was any real damage to her body before answering, she slowly turned her head to get a better look at her dad. "I feel like I got ran over by a double decker bus, but other than that I'm good. Turns out when you get body jacked by a spirit it hurts like a bitch." Reaching her hands out toward Charlie and Sam were where standing by her legs, she opened and closed her hands quickly in a sigh for help up. They each took a hand and slowly pulled until she was sitting up. Connor and Dean were both right next to her in case she fell back again. "Guys, I'm good." she assured them, slowly moving until she was up on her feet. "We don't have time to waste. Two more days to gather the last of our weapons, get in a few more training sessions, and get to each Gate before Gadreel's minions can."

"Yeah and we'll get right on that after we've all had some sleep." Dean said as he stood up, already giving Ana a look that told her not to argue with him. "We can't afford to go into this one exhausted. So let's all call it a night and we can revisit all of this in the morning."

A silent agreement seemed to spread around the group as they all began to move back toward the Roadhouse. Ana and Connor stayed behind to pick up the supplies that they had on top of the trunk and then just had Gabriel snap his fingers to move it back inside where it belonged. It had been a long night and though Ana was glad that they got the information they wanted, she wasn't prepared to see the future in the way that she had. Ora had been able to call up the vision without trouble and Ana had been able to see it as well. These gates to Hell would be open in two days, but the only thing that really had caught her focus was the dead bodies that littered the ground when they had lost. If they lost no one would make it out alive.

 **A/N: Ba ba BAAAA! Cliffhanger. Sorry guys, but I need to build up some suspense. On a completely separate note, hello recent follows and favorites! Welcome to my madness and to those of you who have stuck around, I applaud and thank you. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Big things are coming. Will Lucifer and Michael make it out of the cage and out of Hell? What will happen if they do? Does this small army even have a chance at stopping it? All answers will be coming very soon.**

 **Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)**


	69. Chapter 69

**A/N: Guys! You know what I just realized?! I've been working on this story for a year! Some of you have been reading this for a whole year! That's so exciting to me! Anywho, who's ready for some action?**

 **Side note: I'm incredibly sorry for how long this took to get posted. My summer is getting away from me and I keep getting more and more busy. I promise I'm trying and I thank you for hanging around while I take forever to update. Love you all!**

The last full day they had before readying themselves properly for the fight to come was filled with more of the same. Training, fighting strategies, emergency plans, and keeping everyone fed. That night had been different than the rest though. There was a growing tension in the atmosphere of the bar, fear and anxiety meshing together as everyone wondered what the next night would bring. Ana and Charlie had still been sharing Ana's bed, but Ana knew that if she was going to get any sleep at all that it wouldn't happen without Connor by her side. She had slept so poorly the night before that she hadn't even gotten out of bed that morning until ten.

After laying in bed for an hour, staring at the ceiling and listening to Charlie's even breathing she finally decided that it was worth the shot to seek out the comfort that Connor could provide. Gently getting out of bed, Ana quietly made her way out of her own room and into the small living room that housed the couch with the pull out bed that he had been sleeping on. As she moved closer to it, she considered just turning around and going back to her own bed. She'd fall asleep eventually. "Can't sleep?" Connor asked, his head not even raising up off of the pillow.

"No," she spoke softly as she moved around the couch so that she could see him, "Anytime I close my eyes I just see the ending of the vision Ora had. Everyone laying on the ground, covered in blood, eyes cold and empty." She shivered at the memory.

Connor frowned, she would be little help during the fight if she didn't get proper rest and he knew that the reason she was out of her bed was to join him. Patting the empty space of mattress next to him, he beckoned her over with open arms. She didn't hesitate as she crawled into the bed next to him, hiding her face against his chest like she always did when things were getting to be too much for her.

Finding immediate comfort with Connor's arms around her Ana pressed her nose into his shirt, taking in a deep breath and letting his familiar scent help calm her overworked mind. "Thank you." She muttered softly, happy that he hadn't turned her away.

"Of course. Try to get some sleep." He whispered to her before placing a gentle kiss to the top of her head. He hadn't slept well in the months that she had been gone and even in the time that they had been rejoined, but with her laying next to him there was no worry that he'd have another restless night. Sleep would come easy with Ana in his arms.

* * *

Charlie had woken up to the other side of the bed being empty, which was a little weird. Normally she was up first and her moving around the room woke up Ana. Assuming that the young witch had just beat her to it, she got out of bed and quickly dressed. It was no doubt going to be a long day, with the knowledge that the fight they had been waiting to happen was meant to take place before the sun rose the next day they were going to be spending the whole day making sure everyone was as ready as they could be.

Opening the bedroom door she walked into the living room, not being particularly quiet since Connor was normally already downstairs, but as she began to walk past the couch she stopped when she noticed two different bodies on the bed. A small smile spread across her lips as she saw the couple snuggled up together under a blanket and she quietly snuck the rest of the way out of the door, before gently closing it behind her and bolting downstairs to tell Dean and anyone else who was awake what she had just seen.

Just as she walked out of the hallway and into the main room of the building she paused only for a moment to scan the few who were sitting around until her eyes landed on Sam and Dean who were at a table that was still pushed up against a wall. "My bitches! You will not believe what I just witnessed!"

"Unicorns frolicking in the field out back?" Sam questioned, knowing that today was _the_ day had him in an odd mood. Normally he wouldn't snap respond with sarcasm, that was more Dean and Ana territory.

Dean chuckled, covering it with a cough when Charlie gave them both a glare. "No, though that would be cool. Can you imagine how amazing it would be to have a unicorn. Betcha we could sell it for a buttload of money." She shook her head slightly, reigning in her imagination and focusing back on the real world. "No!" she said again as she took the empty seat between the brothers. "I just saw our resident couple all cuddly in bed together."

"I really don't need to know what those two are doing in bed together." Dean grumbled, rubbing his hands over his face. If he was being honest with himself, he was pretty happy to hear that the two lovebirds were making a little more headway in fixing their relationship, but he wouldn't tell anyone that.

Charlie scoffed, "Dude, all clothes were on. If it had been anything like that I would be more scared and less excited." she folded her arms on top of the table, looking back and forth between the two Winchester men. "It's just nice to see them doing something other than avoiding each other unless they need to work together for this mission we're on."

The brothers shared a look. Of course they were both happy that Connor and Ana seemed to be getting a little better, but with what laid ahead for them, _directly_ ahead for them, there was no telling what would come of the young couple, or anyone else, by the end of the day. Sam was about to voice the reality of their situation, but was stopped short when Ana came almost jogging into the room. "Looks like our fearless leader is here."

Dean followed his brother's eyes, "I thought I was the leader here?" he grumbled, watching as his daughter walked toward them. She seemed to be better rested than she had been in days and he was more than a little relieved to see it.

"Maybe most of the time you are," Charlie rested a gentle hand on his arm, giving him a sympathetic look, "but this is Ana and Connor's show. They're the ones who are supposed to beat Lucifer and Michael, we're just here for extra support and the beat down the lower ranking bad guys."

"Hey guys." Ana spoke up, halting any conversation that the three were having. Looking them all over, she decided to take a moment to register the physical well being of the three of them, knowing that it could be completely changed by the end of the night. "So once everyone is down here we need to make sure we're all prepared. Angel blades, salt, exorcisms, blood sigils, the whole nine. We'll go over the plan as a large group and then each group will go over their separate plans for the gate they'll be taking." She looked toward her father, waiting for him to say something, but he was just staring at her with a strange look in his eyes.

Sam noticed his brother's look and gave his niece a smile, "Sounds like a plan. We'll start rounding up the other's we've seen out and about if you want to start waking up those who aren't out yet."

Dean just continued to look at Ana as she nodded and moved toward the hallway to start banging on doors. He once believed there was no scarier feeling than being the one to lead a group of people into a fight and not know who was going to make it back, to know that anything that happened could fall on his shoulders for being the one to set plans into action, but watching his daughter do it was worse. Ana was more than capable, he knew that for sure. It was the grief that followed losing someone in battle that he was worried about. She was strong in many ways, but death was one of the few things she had little coping mechanisms for and he knew that if they lost anyone she would do nothing but blame herself.

It didn't take long for them to get everyone rounded up, the mismashed group had gotten used to getting up pretty early so they could utilize all of the time they had to train. With everyone surrounding the bar Ana found a spot on the serving side, right in the middle so everyone could hear and see her. It was also nice that she felt extremely comfortable there. "Alright guys, we have until the sun begins to set before we start moving. The angels in each group, Connor, and I will be moving everyone to their locations. With any luck, and by luck I mean very little of it, the gate that Lucifer and Michael will be coming out of will be one of the two that Connor and I will already be at. That way only one of us has to move."

"That's if they actually succeed in opening the cage, right?" Alex spoke up. It was rare that she talked to anyone other than Claire or Jodi, she wasn't entirely comfortable with the group of people that she was with.

Ana looked at the girl who was just a few years younger than herself. It was so strange for her to look at Alex, Claire, and Krissy, knowing that there was a very small age gap between them all and yet she was the one leading them into battle. Nodding, Ana took a moment to look at her family, knowing that very few of the group would like what she was about to say next. "It's true that our main goal is to keep the demons and angels from opening the gates, getting into Hell, and opening the cage. Reality is that they have good odds at getting past us and doing exactly that. So we hope for the best, that we're able to take them all down before they get to the cage, but we make sure we're prepared for the worst." The younger girl nodded, her eyes focused down on the map that showed where each location was.

"We all know the basic plan, we've been over it enough." Dean spoke up from here he stood directly across the bar from Ana. "What needs to be done first is a weapons check. Make sure everything you're supposed to be taking is either already on you or close enough for you to quickly get to." He swept a glance around, silently excusing everyone to do as he said.

As everyone began to move Ana took the moment to head up to her apartment. She always had her pistol on her, but the angel blade she would be taking was in her room. Making sure the door was locked behind her, she looked around the small place that she had called her own before sending up a silent prayer to Gabriel and his sister Sera who was meant to be moving between the groups as Cas was. It didn't take long for either angel to appear in front of her.

"What's going on, princess?" It wasn't odd for Ana to call on him away from the others, but he had no idea why Sera was there as well. If Ana was going to call on another angel he assumed it would have been Cas.

Ana looked at each of them, "I just want to touch base. I have a small addition to all of our plans, but I only want you two aware of it for now." She paused a moment, watching a confused look cross Sera's normally stoic face. "Just hear me out, alright?" Waiting for either angel to argue, she was glad when they didn't. "If Michael and Lucifer break free of the cage, get topside before we can stop them, I want you two with me. I'm going to instruct Cas to stay with my dad. I want Hannah to stay with Connor's group, Daniel to stay with Sam, and Jax to stick with Charlie. Connor and I will place ourselves wherever we need to be, but once we're there I want the rest of the hunters, angels, and witches moved to whichever location needs the most help and I only want you two, Connor, and I left with your brothers."

Gabriel turned slowly toward Seraphiel with a raised eyebrow, their eyes meeting only for a moment before he turned back toward Ana. "What do you have planned?" It was clear that she had some secret plan stashed in that devious brain of hers.

Ana shrugged, "Nothing… yet. In one of the vision Ora had, it was the four of us standing against Lucifer and Michael. The other showed the others there with us, dead at my feet." she diverted her gaze. "So I'm going to go with the first option."

"Do you know what the sacrifice was that your ancestor spoke of?" Sera asked. The angel rarely spoke and gave off an extremely deadly vibe, but Ana trusted her, if for nothing more than because Gabriel seemed to trust her just as much as he trusted Cas.

"No, I don't." The young witch shrugged, "It could be anything, literally, but with the way things have been going I assume it's going to be pretty big." Brushing a hand through her hair, Ana closed her eyes, "Just please tell me you'll both be there."

Gabriel looked at her, seeing the deep changes within her since the loss of her daughter and everything that would be happening very shortly. The young girl he had once placed his grace inside of had hardened into a warrior fit for battle against his brothers, something that should have never been asked of anyone. "Of course I'll be there. I'm not leaving your side." He slowly turned his body until he was facing Sera, knowing that this decision would be completely her own. His sister did nothing she didn't want to.

"You are very brave for being such a young human, even for a powerful witch. I would be honored to fight at your side." Sera finally answered, her face still as emotionless as ever. As every angel did she had little knowledge of the legend that spoke of the Good and Mohr witches, but never had she thought that she would be aiding them.

Letting out a relieved sigh, Ana nodded. "Thank you." she told them both, wondering if there was anything else she needed to do in last minute preparation for the fight they were about to run head on into. "I'm going to grab my angel blade and head back downstairs, we need to stick together so we can move quickly once it's time." she instructed, not surprised when Sera was suddenly gone, but Gabe still remained.

The archangel watched as she moved toward her room, knowing exactly where the weapon was she was looking for. Ana had never really been a normal child, not after what had happened with Brandon, but she still had normal enough experiences. Scrapped knees, crazy stunts, mud pies, fantasies of the future. The works. He honestly never thought that she would end up growing up too fast for her own good, no more than she already had anyway. Her dreams of being a doctor, having a family, being a mother had all been things he had been rooting for her since the day he'd set his eyes on her. Knowing now that a lot of that wouldn't happen the way she had dreamed upset him. There was no doubt that she was a strong woman, witch or not, she was determined and smart. He just wished she would have been able to stay young for a while longer. Ana walked back into the room and he pulled himself from his thoughts, right now the best thing he could do for her was be at the top of his game. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be." She responded with a tight smile as she tucked her angel blade into her belt next to her pistol. It wasn't extremely comfortable, but it would do until she needed it in her hand.

* * *

The sun was beginning to set which meant that the group was slowly running out of time. Since they would be fighting for their lives that night they had kept training to small things; reciting exorcisms, angel banishing sigils, and, for the witches, attacks that they knew would work the best against their nonhuman opponents. Looking around the group it was easy to point out those who had gone up against the extremely dangerous before and those who were less experienced. Sam, Dean, Gabe, and Cas were the most collected out of the twenty-seven bodies gathered. Though none of them were happy about the situation, they knew all too well how to handle what was going to happen next.

This wasn't Ana's first bout with the heavy hitters of the paranormal world and it wasn't the first time she would see either archangel, but she was nervous none the less. These people were following her into battle, they were working off of the plan she had made, and they were relying on the combined power of her and Connor to get them to the finish line as the victors. Slowly looking around the room she took in each person who was willing to risk their life for the greater good of the world. People who she had grown attached to. She had gone from having very little family to finding her father and uncle, to adopting all of these new people into a new type of family. If only she could make sure that everyone lived through what laid ahead.

"You alright?" Dean's voice seemed to jolt Ana out of her focus, he had been watching as she studied the room and was beginning to worry as she didn't move for a few minutes. She was worried, hell, so was he, but he could tell that it was beginning to get to her.

Turning to look at her dad, she shrugged. "As much as I can be." She knew that he would understand what was going through her head. It hadn't been long since they had been in each others lives, but they were so similar in some ways that the understanding between the two had developed quickly.

Dean sighed, "We're as prepared as we can be, kiddo. You've done so much to help them be ready for this and you've made a solid plan. All there is left to do is kick some ass and hope that we can stop them before they open the cage."

"I brought them all here." Ana's voice was soft, she didn't want anyone else to overhear their conversation. "They came because we couldn't do this alone and a lot of them are here because they know _me._ I don't know what I'm going to do if we lose anyone."

Moving closer to his daughter, he placed an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. "We're going to fight as hard as we can to help everyone return alive." he whispered in her ear before placing a gentle kiss to the top of her head. Turning his attention toward the windows, he stealed himself as he noticed the still dimming light in the sky. "We should get everyone in their groups so we can head out soon."

Ana nodded, ready to call everyone to the center of the room for one last pep talk before they all headed out, but the loud sound of a rock song filling the room made her stop. Reaching into the back pocket of her jeans she pulled her phone out and lifted it to her ear, knowing from the ringtone that it was Crowley.

"Really? Hail to the King?" Logan looked to her from across the room with a raised eyebrow. He had known that she had a thing about personalizing the ringtones for her contacts in her phone, but was lost at the irony of the song.

She shushed him before turning her attention to Crowley on the other end of the call. There wasn't any time for her to get a greeting out before his gruff voice was filling her ear. "Say that one more time?" she questioned, wanting to make sure that she was hearing him right. "What the hell?! I thought you were going to warn us as soon as they started moving! It's not even dark out yet!" Everyone in the bar turned their attention toward Ana as her voice raised. "Damn it!" she swore and hung up, turning to her dad with wide eyes. "We need to move out. Now."

"Everyone to your groups!" Dean commanded, moving toward Cas as the room broke out in a flurry of motion. "What happened?" he called to Ana as everyone began to position themselves.

"Crowley said the groups are moving. There were no signs until they all started showing up to the gates." She explained, her eyes meeting Connor's as their groups came to stand with them. It didn't take long for everyone to be in their groups, looking around she double checked that everyone was in the right place. "We're showing up late to this party guys. Be instantly aware of your surroundings and fight smart. Remember, if you see Michael or Lucifer you do not engage. Leave them to me and Connor." The barroom was filled with dead silence, everyone preparing themselves for what they were about to jump into. "Be safe." Were her last words to everyone before they all began to disappear from in front of her. Opening up the bond between herself and Connor all of the way, she gave him a long look before sending a message of love. She quickly placed a hand on Logan and Claire before teleporting them to the gate that they were assigned to.

The group of four that was under Ana's command appeared at the gate that was in southern Oregon. Devil's Gates were placed in numerous and various locations around the world, but the only ones the demons and angels under Gadreel's command were interested in where in North America and thankfully so. It kept the groups a little closer together. Ana had imagined that all of the gates would be in cemeteries, similar to the one in Wyoming, but the one that they were standing mere meters from was located in a rock formation in what looked to be an abandoned clearing that ran parallel to a large cliff face. Demons and angels were already gathered around a large crack in the rock face, there were symbols drawn next to it and chanting could be heard from the few who stood facing the cliff. There had to be just about twenty bodies facing toward them, each face turning menacing in its own way once the enemy had appeared.

Ana barely had time to suck in a breath before her group was being charged at. Taking the time to share a quick glance with Gabriel, the two of them disappeared from where they stood to reappear within the mob of bodies moving toward the three hunters who still stood in their places. It had been the plan all along for Gabriel and Ana to take on as many as they could so that Claire, Logan, and Xavier would stand a better chance of making it through the fight alive. The three hunters watched as Gabe and Ana took on their first bout of enemies while the others continued toward them. Slowly they spread apart, wanting to disperse the enemy as equally as possible. With their angel blades in hand, they waited for the fight to come to them, knowing that it would do nothing to slow down the demons and angels but it would pull more of them away from the gate so that Ana or Gabe could stop the others before they got it open.

Claire had managed to take a few steps forward from the line she formed with the two men who were on either side of her. She had a little more experience with the monsters they were going up against and she was more than ready to shove the blade in her hand through some bodies. The first demon who reached her wasn't even trying to use any of his powers on her, focusing on trying to disarm her. The female demon that was directly behind the man in front of Claire had a hand lifted and was beginning to wrap her power around the young huntress' throat. That is until Ana caught sight of it from across the field. Within seconds she had the demons and angels immediately around her pushed back while at the same time pulling the female demon near Claire toward herself, grabbing the angel blade out from her belt and hurling it toward the body with a practiced ease. Waiting until the blazing light filled up the body that the demon was possessing was gone, she summoned the blade back into her hand and turned back toward the beings who were fighting to get past the thin barrier she had used to hold them off.

Logan and Xavier were holding their own relatively well, while trying to keep an eye on Claire at the same time. Not that neither of them had the idea that she couldn't take care of herself, they had both just been asked by Castiel to keep an eye on her. It seemed that the flow of angels and demons coming at them wasn't going to end any time soon and Logan was beginning to wonder if they were ever going to get through this onslaught so they could keep the gate from being opened. He had been so focused on those directly in front of him that he hadn't noticed the angel that had made it's way behind him.

* * *

The problem with being severely outnumbered, other than the obvious, is that when being completely surrounded by the enemy it can be incredibly difficult to see what is going on with the rest of the people fighting. Ana had been so focused on the angels and demons around her that she hadn't been able to keep an eye on the others like she had planned to. It wasn't until she heard Xavier shout that she even noticed anything had gone wrong. All she wanted to do at that point was go to see what had happened, but she had too many bodies around her and the moment she was gone they would turn their force on one of the others. Sending up a quick prayer to Sera, she hoped that the angel had time to come help them so Ana could she what had happened. When she felt the warrior's presence at her back she let out a small sigh and she shoved her blade into an enemy angel's chest. "Please tell me the other's are having an easier time of this?" she questioned.

"ANA!" Xavier's voice made it over the sounds of battle directly around her and her stomach sank. She had only met the hunter a few times before this, but she could hear the panic in his tone.

Sera had already begun to fight off those who had been to Ana's back. "Go, I've got this covered." she instructed, being able to sense exactly what was going on across the battlefield.

Not needing to be told twice Ana teleported away from Sera and toward where she had last seen the hunters. Claire and Xavier were paired together, seeming to be fueled by anger as they fought off the enemy in front of them. Turning to look for Logan, her heart dropped into her stomach as her eyes landed on his bloodied form on the ground. She hurried to his side and slid to her knees, her hands instantly on his chest as she checked for a pulse or any sign of life, even if it was wishful thinking. The amount of blood on the ground told her everything she needed to know. Logan was dead. Pushing down the grief she felt at the loss of her friend Ana stood up slowly, ready to unleash all of her power on the angels and demons who were left, but the ground began to tremor before she could even take a step away from Logan's still warm body.

"They've opened the gate!" Sera yelled, being able to see the rocks move to open the gateway to Hell. She and Gabriel were the only two close enough to see the five that had been chanting around the entrance make their way into the space that had been forced between the two sides of the cliff.

Their first plan had failed. The gate had been opened and unless they were willing to jump into Hell to try to finish the fight there, Lucifer and Michael would be released shortly. Though the decision had been already made that no one would attempt to enter Hell after the groups who had gotten through the gates, Ana thought that it sounded like a pretty decent idea at the moment. Instead she teleported back over to where Sera stood, "Get on angel radio, tell me if any of the other gates have been opened." she instructed before forcing those who were nearest to them to the ground.

Sera sent a direct message to those angels who were fighting on their side. In quick recession they all responded, the mixed answers making her grimace. "Jax, Cas, and Hannah say that they've been able to keep them from being open. Daniel says that they're dangerously close to opening the one he and Sam are at."

Thinking over her next steps quickly she slowly nodded to herself as a plan formed in her head. "I want you to take Claire and Xavier to Sam's location. Send a message to the others to stick to their spots until they've taken out every angel or demon that's there. Do not let Cas leave my dad. Tell him that you're here helping me and the others. It's going to only be you, me, Gabe, and Connor here." Sera gave a curt nod and disappeared. Turning to watch the angel appear between Xavier and Claire then the three of the disappearing, Ana knew that all attention in the field was about to turn to her and Gabriel.

The archangel flew the Ana's side and watched as those who were still standing began to move toward them. "Are you ready for this, princess?" he asked. She had been fighting hard, using both her power and her body. Then there was the fact that a close friend of hers had just died and the gate that they had hoped would stay closed was now open meaning that his two oldest brothers were about to make an appearance; he would completely understand if she wasn't ready.

"Let's do this." She responded before charging into battle, taking down any angel or demon who was in her path. Angel blade in one hand while the other focused her magic as she lashed out with it, each being she passed did not live long after. With how quickly she and Gabe were clearing through the remaining bodies, Ana almost had the hope that they would be able to beat this, but she thought again as the ground began to shake for a second time. Quickly turning around so that she was facing the gate she watched as two forms walked out of the door from Hell.

Time seemed to freeze as Michael and Lucifer strode onto the battlefield, causing all remaining fighting to stop. The two archangels didn't stop until they were standing directly across from Ana with a chunk of space between them. Gabriel was instantly at the young witches side as his brothers' eyes focused on her, both of them sporting the hungriest grins he had even seen on either of them. "Winchester." Michael spat the name.

"Ana, isn't it?" Lucifer added, his grin slowly turning into a sly smirk at the sight of only the witch and their younger brother standing against them. Finishing the two would be easy enough and then it would take nothing for him and Michael to take out the rest of the world.


	70. Chapter 70

**A/N: Sorry about the wait on this one guys...**

The moment Sera had the two hunters close enough to touch she flew toward the location of the Devil's Gate that Sam's group was covering. The female angel had already been there once to make sure that things were going as smoothly as they could. Her brother Daniel was keeping a close watch on those he was with, assuring that the hunters weren't injured so bad that they couldn't fight. When she landed, Claire and Xavier instantly brought their weapons back up assessing the situation before they were both off to help, not even questioning the fact that they had been pulled from their own location. Sera watched as Claire moved in Alex's direction, cutting down any demon or angel that got in the way. Quickly locating the youngest Winchester brother she flew to Sam's side, shoving her own angel blade into the back of a demon that he had been facing off against.

"How are the rest holding up?" Sam asked, slowly turning, waiting for his next enemy to attack.

Sera pulled her blade out of the body that had fallen to the ground, "Fine. This group has the worst of it. I've brought Claire and Xavier to help, but I need to return to Ana and Gabriel." she stated, not giving him any more information before she was gone. Heading south she dropped into the fray that was happening with Dean's group, not bothering to even stop and talk to the hunter as she landed next to Castiel. "Ana's asked that you stay here and protect Dean. I'm going to aide her group so that you can stay here."

Castiel gave her a questioning look, knocking aside the fist that was directed at his face. There was something that Sera wasn't sharing with him, but he had no time to argue. "Go then." he instructed, knowing very well that his sister was just as equipped, if not more so, to protect Ana as he was.

Not bothering to waste another moment Sera flew away. She had only been gone a few minutes, but when she returned it was to the sight of Lucifer and Michael standing not far from where she had landed next to Gabriel.

* * *

 _They're here._ The message from Ana was clear as day in Connor's head and he almost slipped up when the angel and demon that he had been fighting had lunged at the same time. Michael and Lucifer had broken free from the cage. The archangels were on earth and if the fear coming from Ana was anything to go by, they were where Ana was. Looking around, he noticed that the numbers fighting against them had dwindled greatly and that those fighting with him were holding up pretty well. "Hannah!" Connor called to the angel, pushing his two foes away with a wave of power. He really couldn't waste any more time, he needed to get to Ana. The angel appeared at his side, "I need to go to Ana."

Hannah's eyes widened slightly, she knew what that meant. "Go, we can finish this." she assured him, knowing that the bigger battle was more important at this point. The only goal left now was to get rid of the archangels.

With a quick nod, Connor teleported to Ana's location appearing at her side within seconds. His heart dropped into his stomach as he looked at the two men who could only be the archangels that they had been trying to avoid. The power radiating off of them made his skin tingle and he wondered how exactly he and Ana were supposed to put a stop to them.

"Oh, looky! You've brought another friend." Lucifer teased, eyes roaming over the male witch. The appearance of the two brought a memory that had been lost in the back of his mind forward and the grin that had been plastered to his face since he had seen Ana slowly dropped into a scowl. "Really now, brother?" He was now directing his words to Gabriel, "First you somehow manage to come back from the dead and now you're using the prophecy against us?"

Gabriel scoffed, his eyes still glaring at the brother who had shoved an angel blade into his decoy, the one that had been so life like he could feel part of the pain when it had happened. "Like I planned this, Lucy. This is their show, I'm just along for the ride."

Michael slowly turned the glare that he had set on Ana toward Lucifer, "Must we keep talking? I'd rather break the little witch's neck." the words were almost a growl. He had lost his vessel the moment he'd entered the cage. Adam had died when Castiel had thrown the holy fire at them, but Michael had still been able to use the vessel until Sam had knocked him into Hell. The demons who had come to set them free had a human on stand by that they had somehow convinced to say yes so Michael could use him, but much like Lucifer's vessel the one he was riding was not meant to hold the grace of an archangel. That would only matter for a short time though, he had plans to get his original vessel to say yes. Both archangels would be using their intended Winchesters by the time they were done with this petty battle.

Ana had been filled with fear since the moment the archangels had emerged from the gate, but the moment that Michael spoke the fear was swiftly replaced with determination and rage. Taking a step forward, she could feel Connor's worry and confusion as she moved out of their line but she ignored it. "This will be your one shot," she spoke, knowing that they would take little heed of her words, "and I can assure you that neither of you will be making it out of this alive."

"Oh, little witch, so precious." Lucifer taunted, his scowl quickly turning back into a smile as he chuckled. "Do you really think you stand a chance against the two of us?" Each archangel was exceedingly powerful on their own, but now that Michael had completely turned from their Father and the pair of brothers was working together, there was little that could stop them.

"I guess we're about to find out." She answered, knowing that there was no getting out of this without a fight. Her grip on the angel blade in her hand tightened, quickly sending a message to Connor through their bond before she teleported right behind the archangels.

Michael turned around and raised his arm to block the angel blade that she was already swinging at him. Holding that arm in place he clenched his hand into a fist before thrusting it into her abdomen with so much force that he felt something crack. The grunt that the pain pulled from the witch's mouth was one of the most pleasing things he had heard in years. Just as he pulled his arm back to hit her again he was suddenly thrown back by a wave of power unlike anything he had ever felt from a witch.

Connor had teleported shortly after Ana, appearing just in front of Lucifer. They would have more luck if the four of them could separate and weaken the brothers, then he and Ana could finish them off somehow. As Sera joined him, Connor began his assault on the archangel in front of him. Part of him wondering where the rest of Ana's group was, but he would just have to ask about that later.

Gabriel was at Ana's side moments after Michael had cracked a couple of her lower ribs, placing his fingers to her forehead to heal the wounds before Michael could make his way back to them. "He's stronger than you physically, cupcake. Try not to let him get too close." he instructed before flying to where Michael had landed, ass down on the ground. Taking the moment of weakness, he raised his fist that held his angel blade and punched his brother across the face. "Don't touch my witch, Mickey." he snarled as he brought the angel blade down toward his brother's chest, but before it could hit home Michael disappeared.

Connor and Sera were working pretty well together, not that they were doing much damage to Lucifer, but he had yet to hurt either of them. Wrapping his power around the archangel as Sera ran at him with her blade he tried to hold Lucifer still, but it didn't take long before he had broken out of Connor's magic.

"Enough! This is a waste of my time!" The Devil snarled, disappearing from where he stood to join Michael who had just appeared in front of Ana. "Let's kill her and get this over with, I want to destroy this planet so we can move on to better things." he told his brother as they moved on opposite sides of Ana. Before the witch had any time to attack both archangels used their powers, Lucifer merely cutting off her oxygen while Michael began compressing his power around her brain.

If Ana could have screamed she would have, but with no air in her body she only whimpered as she fell to the ground. She could make out shouting, most likely Connor and Gabe as they realised what was happening. Suddenly the pain was gone, Connor's face was directly in front of her eyes as she began to pull in long breaths, waiting for the pain to clear from her head so that she could think again.

"Ana? Ana, talk to me. Are you alright?" Connor asked, not bothering to turn any attention to the angels behind him. Gabriel had pulled Ana away from his brother before he and Sera attacked so that they were distracted while Connor checked on her.

"Fucking angels." She muttered, as the pain began to clear fully and she could focus on what was going on around her. "I'm going to kill them. Help me up." Grabbing onto his outstretched hand, Ana used it to pull herself to her feet, regaining her bearings as she looked over Connor's shoulder to see Michael throw Gabriel across the field. "I'm so done with this!" she snapped, frustrated that the world kept throwing all of this crap at her family. "Let's finish them."

Connor turned to see what was happening, "How? We don't know what exactly we're supposed to do end this." Michael began to turn his attention toward them, but Gabriel was quickly back in his face, forcing their fight to continue.

"Good thing I have a plan." Ana muttered, knowing that it wasn't much of a plan, but it was all that she had. "I'll switch you for a while. Go help Gabe with Michael, we'll make our move when we can." she assured him before teleporting so that she was standing right next to where Sera and Lucifer were locked in a fight. Taking the moment while she could, Ana moved behind Lucifer and striked out with her angel blade, she hadn't been able to bury it in his back like she had hoped, but the blade did drag across his skin deep enough for his bright grace to shine out of the wound.

Lucifer quickly spun to look at her, "You little witch!" he snapped, lifting his hand to snap the witch out of existence. The fight had been pretty entertaining up until that point.

Ana lashed out with her power, throwing Satan back as far as she could. "Obviously." she scoffed, catching a slight wince from the angel as he pushed himself back up to his feet. The expression on his face had her more worried than she had been when she had first saw him come out of the gate. There was no way that the four of them would hold up much longer against the archangels, not if the murderous look in Lucifer's eyes was anything to go by. Whatever move they were going to make they needed to make it soon. Teleporting to Sera's side, she kept her eyes on Lucifer as she spoke, "We need to regroup. You grab Gabe, I'll grab Connor and we'll move across the field."

Not wasting any time both women disappeared from their spots, each grabbing the man they had agreed to from their fight with Michael and then taking them with as they moved as far away from the archangels as they could get. "So what are we supposed to do? We've barely made any progress on either of them." Gabriel was focused where both of his brothers stood, seeming to be waiting to see what they were going to do next.

"Ana?" Connor looked to his soulmate, he had no idea what they were going to do. His and Ana's go to move was strong, but it wasn't strong enough to take out one archangel, let alone two.

"That's it!" Ana's head jerked up, Connor's thought giving way to the idea that had just come into her head. "Sacrifice…" she muttered, eyes focused on the ground as she tried to process if what she was about to attempt would even work. Looking up, she watched as Lucifer and Michael began to walk toward them, their smug smiles communicating that they had thought they'd won. Their time had run out and this was the last move they had. "Everyone lay a hand on me." she instructed, noticing that the archangels were only getting closer.

Gabe, Connor, and Sera all shared a confused look before doing as they were told. Ana had been running the show since they had all been pulled together and it would be dumb for them to ignore her now. Connor grabbed onto her hand, while each angel rested a hand on the shoulder they were closest to. "What now?" Connor asked. Lucifer and Michael could attack at any moment, he could feel Ana's need to protect herself and the rest of them, but there was also a hesitation of what she was about to do.

"You're all going to channel as much of your energy as you can into me. Gabe and Sera, lend me as much of your grace as you can. Connor, same goes for your magic. The combination of all of that should be enough to stop them." Ana spoke, her voice steel as she understood that this was not going to be an easy task for any of them. "We stick this out until the end." These new words were orders, her tone leaving no room for argument, "Either they die or we do from trying to stop them."

Everything that happened after Ana's order occurred in such a way that it was hard to comprehend what was going on unless a person was in the thick of it. Michael and Lucifer seemed to realize that their enemy was about to make their big move, but came to the conclusion too late as when they tried to attack the two witches and the two angels they were stopped by a beam of blinding white light. A light full of so much power and energy that it made their skin burn, their grace scream, and fear fill the pit of their stomachs. The two angels and the one witch were focused solely on the redhead that they were shoving full of their energy, watching as she accumulated it all with the addition of her own before expelling it from her body through her one free hand. The two archangels struggled against the power being used against them, but neither could break free of it's hold long enough to retaliate. It seemed that while they were being weakened they were also being held captive where they stood.

* * *

Dean watched as Cas shoved his angel blade into the last demon standing. All in all their fight had been easier than he could have hoped for, little of their own blood was shed, though his left shoulder had been dislocated a few angels back and it looked like Krissy was limping pretty badly as she crossed the boggy wetlands towards him. The gate they had been assigned to was right on the edge of a swamp and that had made their fighting more difficult. Turning his attention the opposite direction he could see that William and Ariel were also walking toward him, both were wounded, but they were all alive. "Cas! Update on everyone else!"

The angel flew so that he was instantly at his friend's side. "There was a check in of sorts not long ago. Our group along with Charlie and Connor's were having the best of it. Daniel reported that they had been having some trouble with the gate in Maine."

"What about Ana and Gabriel?" He was beginning to think that they had succeeded in their plan to keep the demons and angels from opening the gates. Maybe for once they would be able to avoid the big fight at the end of a gruesome attack against the world and his family.

Castiel frowned, there had been no word from Gabriel or Ana, at least not directly. "Sera flew to me while we were still pretty outnumbered. She said that she would be helping Ana's group, but she didn't say what was happening."

The familiar presence of dread hit Dean's gut at those words, the all too reoccurring feeling that something wasn't right and someone he loved was in the middle of something bad. "Take me to them." Gabriel should have given them a heads up if things were going ass up for their group, but Dean was also aware that a lot of things in their lives never played out like they should.

Giving the hunter a stiff nod, Cas grabbed onto Dean's arm before giving Ariel a look that clearly said to follow them. He would get Dean there now and the rest would join once Ariel had both William and Krissy within reach. The flight took seconds, but even if it had been hours nothing could have prepared the angel or the hunter for the scene they arrived at. Gabriel, Sera, and Connor were surrounding Ana, each with a hand on her as the young witch channeled something Castiel could only describe as a celestial laser beam. Following the path of the light, he saw that Michael and Lucifer were trying to fight against it, but the power was slowly eating away at their vessels. Flesh was pealing back from muscle, blood dripping toward the ground underneath them, the only thing keeping them on their feet being the power they held as archangels, but it seemed that their grace was helpless against the amount of force being used against them.

Dean was sure that his heart had stopped beating for a solid second when he realized what was going on. Nothing about what was happening yards away from him seemed right. Obviously Michael and Lucifer being there was wrong, they were all meant to gather and fight the dickheaded angels together, but they hadn't even been made aware that they were topside. But Ana… Ana shouldn't be able to do what she was doing. The only time he had seen her do something similar it had weakened her greatly and that was just with her own power, but this light that she was pushing from her hands was much brighter than anything he'd ever seen her do and it was easy to make the connection between the hands touching her that she was drawing power from those around her. This wasn't right. "ANA!" Dean shouted louder than he probably ever had before as he picked up his feet, beginning to move toward his daughter.

Without hesitation Castiel grabbed onto Dean's good shoulder and pulled him back, "You can't. It could kill you." He warned his friend. The amount of power coming from Ana could quickly static out from it's controlled position and take down anyone nearby.

"I don't care!" The hunter jerked free of Cas' grip and began to run. His legs were moving as fast as he could make them move, the pain in his shoulder was forgotten and the fresh adrenalin that was pumping through his system was giving him an extra boost to move faster.

* * *

The process of absorbing all of the energy from an archangel, a warrior angel, and an extremely powerful witch was fast. It filtered out of the three people around Ana, inside of her body, joined with her own power, and then escaped through her hand. It all happened too fast for her mind to fully process, but it was clear that her body was weakening faster than was good. "We need to stop." Connor's voice broke through Ana's concentration. "You can't take much more of this."

"No. Keep going." The words were spoken through gritted teeth as she pushed harder. It was difficult to see anything other than the light in front of her, but she could feel the presence of the archangels weakening. It was working. They were going to win.

Connor looked toward Gabriel for help, hoping that the angel would help him in convincing Ana that this had to end, but he was only met with a sympathetic look. "Ana, stop, please." He began to plead, if she didn't listen he would let go, remove his power from her attack. There could be bad side affects to letting go before she was ready, but he would do it if it meant keeping her strong. When all his soulmate did was shake her head at his request, he frowned. "Why?"

Keeping her hand focused toward their enemy across the field, Ana slowly turned her head so that she was looking into the blue eyes that she loved so much. Tears began to escape her watering eyes as she looked at him, lip trembling as she spoke. "There has to be a sacrifice."

"ANA!" Dean's voice had everyone looking in his direction as the hunter ran toward them, pure fear etched into the expression on his face.

With a sad smile, the youngest of the Winchester line turned her attention back to the task in front of her. "I can't hold this much longer. Give me as much as you can. This has to end." Ana had little faith that she would survive this and she wouldn't risk Michael and Lucifer surviving this if she didn't as well.

Gabriel stilled his expression, being able to feel just how weak she was getting. "You've got it, princess. You blast my lame ass brothers to Timbuctoo and I'll heal you up when it's all said and done." he assured her as he pushed more of his grace into her body.

"You've almost done it, Ana." Sera spoke, being far enough away from the witch and her light to see the decaying bodies of her brothers' vessels. Each human body was so destroyed that each archangel was basically standing in the field in their true forms.

The presence of the others of his group was felt instantly by Cas as Ariel appeared next to him with Krissy and William in tow, "I've spoken with Daniel, Jax, and Hannah." she told him softly just as the rest of the groups appeared near them.

Castiel watched as realization hit all of their faces before turning his attention forward again. It was then that he noticed that Michael and Lucifer were so close to their true angel forms. "Close your eyes!" he instructed, knowing that any non angel to lay eyes on them wouldn't live. Flying to Dean, he didn't even try to reason the hunter as Cas tackled him to the ground and used his own body to block the sight of his brothers.

The high pitched, inhuman sound that Dean had long ago associated with an angel's real voice filled the field and he quickly covered his ears. It lasted for long minutes before the sound was finally gone, leaving every non angel with a ringing in their ears and a pain in their head. He felt as Castiel's weight was lifted off of him, his friend's focus turned away from him. Pushing himself to his feet Dean looked around, first noticing the scorch marks on the already dead grass where Lucifer and Michael had been standing. His green eyes moved directly to the left of there to see Connor sitting on the ground with Ana in his arms, both Gabriel and Sera kneeling next to them. "ANA!" his voice filled the silence that had taken over the field.

Once again Castiel grabbed Dean by the arm and flew him to where the group of four was. Gabriel's head hung low as he knelt in front of Connor, Ana between the two of them. "Gabe." He spoke his brother's name softly, asking an array of questions with the one word. Gabriel slowly shook his head, giving the only answer that needed to be given.

Dean looked down at the still form of his daughter, she must have passed out after using so much energy on that attack. He was waiting for one of the angels amoung them to heal her, to bring a little more color back into her cheeks, to get her chest to start rising and falling with her breaths. Her chest that was barely moving… her chest that wasn't moving. Not even a fraction. "Ana?" The name was cracked and weak as it escaped his mouth. His entire body lost control as he noticed that Connor was openly sobbing as he clutched onto Ana's limp body and he dropped to his knees, inches from her face. Dull green eyes looked past him and up to the darkening sky with no focus, no longer having the ability to see anything.


	71. Chapter 71

**A/N: GUYS! I am so so so so so soooooo sorry that this chapter took forever to get posted. Life is crazy, work is crazy, had a bunch of crap going on, but I'm back in the game! FINALLY! You have no idea how much I've missed this. Updates may be coming a little slower than they were before my surprise hiatus, but they will happen. I promise! So thank you to those of you who are still sticking with me, I love you all! I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **Awerry: It's in the Winchester blood to sacrifice for their family and the world. Damn Winchesters indeed ;) Thank you so much for the review.**

 **Fair warning, this is a little shorter than normal ;)**

Silence took over the field. Not even a cry was heard, though many were clearly weeping for the young witch who lay pale and still in the arms of her soulmate. Many were frozen where they stood, some filled with shock others with grief, most with anger. The group of hunters, angels, and witches would have stayed like that if it weren't for one among them who knew that there was still more that needed to be done. Sera moved through the crowd until she reached Castiel's side, knowing that he and Gabriel were going to be the ones to convince the Winchesters and the Mohr witch to move. "Though Ana is a great loss, she is not the only one who lost their lives during this battle." she spoke softly. There wasn't much that she had picked up from humans, but she knew that this was a time to be gentle with those around them. "There are others we need to mourn and bury."

"How many?" Castiel didn't look away from the family before him as Dean scooted closer to Ana. The hunter's hands held the sides of Ana's face as he cried, his body shaking from the force it took to keep himself from completely losing control.

Taking a moment the angel surveyed the crowd of people that was slowly moving toward the grieving family. "Four including Ana. The hunters Logan and Khloe, and the witch Gregory." Though it would have been ideal to not lose any of those fighting alongside them, losing only four souls in the battle against Satan's army was a large feat. With Ana's sacrifice they had been able to stop her brothers and keep the majority of the world that much safer for a while longer.

Castiel nodded solemnly before moving over to Sam, Dean would be in no place to make any decisions at the moment and though Sam wouldn't be much better, he would try to be the stronger of the two so that Dean could grieve. "There are three other burials we need to plan." He spoke softly, pulling the younger Winchester's attention away from the scene happening just in front of them. "We should get to the hunters first. I'm not entirely sure if Diane's coven will want to do their own burial for Gregory or not, but Logan and Khloe would want a hunter's burial I assume."

Sam sucked in a long, deep breath. They would put the two young hunters to rest, figure out what Diane and William wanted to do about Greg, and then they would sort out what they should do with Ana once everyone else had cleared out. Part of him knew that they should burn her next to the other two, but there was no way that someone that fought so hard to save the world, someone who God himself had shown an interest in, would stay dead. Not after sacrificing herself to fight against His own sons. "We'll need pyres. I'll go talk to Diane."

As Sam turned away from him, Castiel slowly moved his attention back to Dean, Connor, Ana, and Gabriel. The archangel had joined the others on the ground not long after Dean had. The bond that his brother had shared with the young Winchester girl was something that hadn't gone unnoticed by any close to them, he assumed it was much like the bond that he shared with Dean. Something profound and rarely formed between an angel and a human, or witch, but these Winchesters with their bright souls were something that drew them in. Thinking that none of the three men on the ground would be able to keep themselves together much longer, Cas moved closer to them. "Why don't you all take Ana back to the bunker. Sam and I will handle the pyres and the rest of the people then meet you there."

Dean barely registered any of what Cas was saying, but one word had brought his attention back to the world around him. "Pyres?" Blinking away tears, he glanced around at the others, trying to figure out who else they had lost.

"Logan, Khloe, and Gregory." Castiel explained, knowing exactly what Dean was looking for. The hunter seemed to calm down a bit with the knowledge that those who he considered his own personal family were alright. All but Ana.

Dean knew that there was no part of him that had the energy to stay there and do what needed to be done, but he also knew that the two voices that were clear as day in his head wouldn't let him leave because he was breaking inside. He could hear his father's voice, talking to him about being a leader and not leaving responsibilities behind as well as Ana threatening to kick his ass if he didn't stick around to make sure that a proper burial was done for her friends. Maybe this grief was going to be the one to push him over the edge, he _was_ thinking about voices in his head. Sucking in a slow breath, he shook his head, "No, Ana would be so pissed if she knew we weren't here for that. They were her friends, they fought with us because of her, we owe it to her and the three of them to be here."

Connor had been paying attention to little other than Ana's too still body in his arms. The only thing on his mind was how it had happened so quickly. Too quickly. Not the fact that she had died, he knew that it was inevitable, but they had barely started their lives together. He would have thought that the world wouldn't be so cruel as to take this from him so quickly. Gregory's name rolling off of Castiel's tongue brought him out of his grief long enough to process what the two men were talking about. Not only had he lost his soulmate, but he had also lost an amazing friend and fellow witch. "What about Ana?" the words were barely choked out. They couldn't just leave her while they put the rest of the dead to rest.

Dean, Castiel, and Gabriel all looked down at the young woman in question. None of them had really considered what they should do next when it came to the youngest of the Winchesters. None of them were ready to admit that they had lost one of the few people they refused to let go of. It seemed that each man was trying to process what should be done next when Gabe finally broke the silence. "We give her a hunter's burial. Just like the rest." he stated, as if it were so matter of fact.

"We can't burn her." Dean countered, trying to pull himself away from everything that kept this extremely personal and shifting into the state of mind that began to run through ways to bring her back. He wasn't ready to live in a world without his daughter, not again. Standing up, he steeled himself in the decision he had made, "There's a way to fix this. There has to be and that can't happen if she doesn't have a body to come back to."

Connor looked up at Dean with a frown, "You can't seriously be thinking of making a deal with a demon or something equally as stupid, can you? First of all, you know how pissed she would be and you've gone through the stupidity of all of that before. Secondly, what makes you think that losing you in exchange for her would be any easier on the rest of us?"

The elder man shook his head, "No, not a deal, but there has to be something. We won't burn her." Dean argued, his tone making it clear that his decision was final. "We can bury her near the bunker after we put the others to rest and go our own ways." With that he walked away, going to find Sam so that they could get this done. There was a lot that needed to be done. He wouldn't let his daughter stay dead long.

"I'm going to take her back to the bunker." Connor informed the angels that were next to him before disappearing from the field. He didn't want to leave her, but he also refused to leave her on the cold ground while he stood with the rest while they set the fires. Once back at the bunker, he gently laid Ana down on her bed and frowned deeply. He was still trying to keep himself together, there would be time to breakdown after everything else was done, but he couldn't ignore the emptiness inside of his body where part of her conscious, part of her soul used to reside. "We won't let you be gone for long, don't get comfortable wherever you're at." he told her softly, placing a gentle kiss to her forehead before teleporting back to the field to help set up the pyres.

It didn't take long for the large group of them to build the three pyres. Connor, Diane, and William were able to start the fires with their magic and the flames instantly lit up the darkness that had set in while they had still been fighting off Lucifer and Michael. There was only silence for long minutes, no one knew what to say or even if there _was_ anything that could be said. Most were still in shock, few were crying, and those who had never before attended a hunter's funeral were covering their noses to ward off the smell of burning flesh.

Thankfully the fires that the witches conjured burned faster than normal flames would and it didn't take long for all three pyres to turn to ash. Dean and Sam moved to assure all the flames were out so they didn't start a fire through all of the tall grass. They each slowly walked past the mounds of ash, their noses immune to the smell from the years of experience with it. When they were certain the flames were out both men paused to look at one another, exchanging a full conversation in one glance. Sam moved back to where everyone else was standing, taking in a deep breath as he glanced over the group. "We all knew that our chances of making it out of this fight with everyone alive were small, honestly I'm surprised that we didn't lose more people than we did." he sighed, tears coming to his eyes as he thought about his niece. "Even though we knew we would lose some, nothing could have prepared us for it. Everyone here knew one of the people we lost in one way or another, which means that we are all grieving." Sam paused to glance over his shoulder at his brother, noticing that his eyes were focused upward at the sky. "We lost today, but we also won. You all fought hard, pushing against something bigger than many of you have faced before and because of your strength we made it through. We were able to do our part in keeping Michael and Lucifer from ruining the world. For that Dean and I thank you, without each and every one of you we wouldn't have held a chance."

Dean had been listening to his brother's words, eyes glued to the moon that Ana spent so many nights staring at. She had always felt a connection to the glowing orb in the sky, something about witchcraft he didn't completely understand, but looking at it now the reason didn't matter. It was one more thing to remember her by. "Ana would have been proud of all of you." He finally spoke, voice ringing through the field with a strength he didn't feel. "She knew every single one of you, felt enough trust in you to have you fight alongside her, and though she isn't here to say it herself…" He paused to take in a deep breath, "I know that she would be praising us all for holding up our side of this fight so that she could do what needed to be done."

Sam shot Dean a soft smile, "But now it's done and we all have to move on. We'll get everyone back to the Roadhouse so that you can get to your vehicles. What you do now is up to you." With that he turned toward Gabe and Cas, knowing that it would be up to the angels and the remaining witches to get everyone back to the Roadhouse.

With the help of all of the angels, Diane, and Connor they were able to quickly get everyone back to the bar. There were few who lingered with the Winchesters; Jody, Donna, Claire, Alex, and Charlie, the rest of the hunters and witches went about gathering their things to leave. It seemed that those who weren't close with the Winchesters didn't want to be in the way of whatever was going to happen next. Within an hour everyone had said their goodbyes and left, leaving only the small group left sitting at the bar. Jody looked around the empty room, noticing that it was already different without Ana there. "So, what are you going to do with this place? Ana put a lot of work into it, it shouldn't go to waste." She asked, having spent one of her nights there talking with the younger woman about her dream for the place.

"Honestly, that's the last thing on my mind right now." Dean groaned, placing his head in his hands. "We'll lock it up for now and come back to it later. Right now we should get back to the bunker and decide what to do with…." he trailed off, not being able to say it. _The body. Her body._ Even thinking it made him cringe.

Donna set a comforting hand on his shoulder, "If you need some more support, we could meet you guys at the bunker. Help out with whatever you need." She could only imagine how hard it was for Dean to keep himself together as well as he was.

He shook his head, "Thanks for the offer, but I think we need to do this alone." Dean met gazes with Sam, Connor, Cas, Gabe, and Charlie. They were the ones that had been with Ana through almost everything the past few years, if a decision was going to be made about where to go from there it should be them to decide. Everyone else would just have to be okay with that.

Jody and Donna shared a quick look before both women nodded. "If you boys need anything we're just a call away." Jody assured them, moving over to Sam to give him a hug while Donna closed the space between herself and Dean to give him a hug as well. Both men were hugged by each woman in the group, the younger girls grabbing their bags and walking toward the door while Jody stopped next to Connor. He had been sitting at the end of the bar, alone, since they had gotten back. "Don't go doing anything stupid to get her back, alright?" she told him, authority mixing in with her sympathetic tone. "Ana would kick your ass, you and I both know it."

Connor's eyes stayed fixed on the wood of the bar as Jody spoke, he showed no sign that he was even paying attention until the sheriff began to walk away from him. "How long is it going to hurt this bad?" he asked, knowing that Jody had lost both her son and her husband years ago.

Stopping dead in her tracks Connor's words brought tears to her eyes and she took a moment before turning around. "I don't ever really remember a moment in time when it started to hurt less, it just slowly happened. I still think about them every day. I don't think it ever stops hurting, we just learn to work around it."

"That sounds impossible right now." He admitted, his body was filled with so much pain and anger that it seemed that he would never be able to do anything without it being the only thing on his mind.

Jody took a couple steps closer to him, "It will seem less impossible with time." she spoke softly, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and giving him a tight hug. "You just gotta keep moving forward. If you ever feel like you need to talk, don't hesitate to call me. I always answer for family." she assured him before walking away.

Not long after the sound of the two cars driving away had disappeared those left in the bar shared a look before pairing off to be teleported back to the bunker. Standing in the library, it was clear that none of them wanted to start the conversation they needed to have, but putting it off wouldn't do anyone any good. "So what are our options right now?" Sam spoke up, looking at one sad face to another.

"Burn or bury her?" Castiel offered, understanding that this was very difficult for all of them, but he assumed with the lot of them being hunters that they would give Ana a proper hunter's burial.

The younger Winchester's brow furrowed, "No, I mean what are our options to bring her back?" he assumed that they would all be on the same page about it. "Demon deals are out, she would be mad at any of us who would trade our soul for her."

"There's a chance that if we can find her soul Cassie and I could do some old school angel mojo. There's no proof it would work, but it's a shot." Gabe offered, not liking the idea of Ana staying dead anymore than Sam.

Connor sighed, "There's magic that could do it, but the success rate isn't one hundred percent and things can easily go wrong with something like that." he explained.

"Because it would be dark magic." Castiel interrupted, giving Connor a hard look. "Which is something that Ana would also not be okay with."

Dean walked toward the nearest chair and dropped down onto it. "We'll bury her until we can figure something else out. Cas and Gabe, go see if you can find her soul and try to get a hold of your dad. She did enough for him, he could repay it by bringing her back to life. Demon deals and anything that could even be considered a gray area in magic is off limits. We're not going to trade one of us for her, Sam and I know how well that turns out in the end." he spoke up, looking up at his little brother as he spoke the last words. Turning his attention toward Connor, he took in a deep breath before talking again, "Where is she?"

The young witch could only hold Dean's gaze for a moment before he dropped his eyes to his feet. "In her room."

"I'll go get her. Why don't you guys get some shovels and head out back to find a place that won't be easily found." Dean stood from his seat, a new weight settling on his shoulders as he came to terms with what they were about to do. No longer paying attention to what anyone in the library was doing he made his way down the hall toward Ana's room. Though Dean was aware of the reality of their situation, nothing could have prepared him for the sight that met his eyes once he opened the bedroom door. Pausing for a long moment he frowned as he fully realized what he was seeing. With a deep frown Dean hurried back toward the library, hoping that he could catch Connor before he went outside with the others.

Sam had yet to move toward the task that Dean had given them, none of them seemed ready to do what came next. When his older brother came storming back into the room mere minutes after he left Sam's heart broke a little more. "Do you need one of us to get her?" he assumed that Dean hadn't been able to handle the sight of his dead daughter.

Ignoring Sam the eldest Winchester turned his eyes toward the youngest man in the room. "I thought you put her in her room?"

Connor frowned, "I did." he was certain of that. There was no mistaking Ana's room for any other room in the bunker, she had made sure to make it very clear that it belonged to the only female who permanently lived in the place.

"You must have gotten confused, it's alright, we're all a mess right now." Dean made his tone more gentle, "Maybe you put her in your room?"

The with rolled his eyes, "No. I put her in her own room, on her bed." Connor stated, his tone final.

"Well then where the hell is she?" Dean yelled, the volume shocking everyone. Everything had been so quiet since Ana had fallen.

"Wait…" Charlie stepped in between Connor and Dean before their emotions got completely out of hand and they began to fight. "Are we saying that Ana's body is missing?"

Her words seemed to hit them all, as if it hadn't been a possibility to the rest of them until she had spoken. All of their eyes went wide as they looked at each other. Already beginning to move Sam began to shout orders at the rest of them, "Search every room, anywhere that she could be, we check." He left the library, making his way toward the rooms that were very rarely used.

The other five took off in different directions. Connor going to double check Ana's room and the other's that were down that side of the hallway. Dean rushed toward the garage and the rooms they used for their training at the other end of the bunker, he had no idea what her body would be doing in there, but Sam did say to check everything. Charlie hustled toward the old computer room, planning to check it before moving toward other rooms further into the maze of the place. Both angels began to fly in and out of rooms, making their search quick, but efficient.

With all six of them looking it still took awhile for them to cover every inch of the place and by the time that they were all back in the library it was clear that none of them had been able to find her.

Dean was on the verge of snapping, not only had he just lost his daughter, but he had _lost_ his daughter. "Where the hell could she have gone?!" he growled as he stormed around the room, not being able to keep himself still.

"There isn't even anyone else who can get in here without one of us." Connor voiced the thoughts running through his head, "Unless something was strong enough to break through the wardings on the place, there's only so many people that could have taken her."

Gabe and Cas shared a look, both of their expressions setting into deep frowns as they had their own silent argument. Sam caught on to the exchange of looks between the brothers, "What are you two thinking that you're not letting the rest of us in on?" he questioned, knowing that if he didn't bring it up neither of them would share.

Gabriel sighed, "Who is the first person you can think of that can a) come into the bunker b) likes to meddle in other people's, more importantly, your lives and c) has taken a special liking to our dearest Ana?"

"Crowley?" Connor asked with a quirked eyebrow. The creepy demon had made it pretty clear that he had the same weird fascination with Ana as he did with Dean, maybe even a little more than he did with Dean.

Dean shook his head, "Crowley can't come in here unless one of us lets him in. Which leaves one other player on the line up."

"Chuck." Sam spoke up, confusion clear on his face. "But why would Chuck just take Ana from under our noses like that? Obviously he'd know we'd want to bury her and work on a way to bring her back."

"That's more than likely the exact reason why." Castiel spoke up, "Either God doesn't want you to bring her back or he has other plans. Honestly there isn't any way for us to figure it out without talking to him."

As the information sank in further for the rest of them, they all seemed to deflate. Mentally and physically giving up on any idea they had of starting their grieving process. Ana was gone. They wouldn't be able to bury her, to say their goodbyes, and all chances of them finding a way to bring her back were useless without her body for her soul to return to. It seemed that though they had accomplished a great thing that day, there was very little to look forward to.


End file.
